Exigency
by GoogleKnowsUs
Summary: How can it be a surprise to anyone that a LOT of post-Watershed stories are out there? Here is my take on the finale and a first possible story arc for season 6. This story is rated K-Plus, kiddos! Rating changes to T in chapter 26 ! My entry for the 2013 Hiatus Ficathon Challenge - Cover art by dtrekker :-)
1. Exigency

**_A/N: I had to post a Watershed post-ep story, too. This is my first ever published fiction, so bear with me and be kind when reviewing it. English is not my native language but I do try to be as good as I can. Beta-ed by lovely WriterLeigh. If you find grammar or spelling errors, please point them at me gently and I will fix them. Enjoy!_**

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**Chapter 1 - ****Exigency**

_"Katherine Houghton Beckett … will you marry me?"_

When it came to situations that have left her speechless, Kate could name quite a few. The ones that left her heart beating anxiously at the next move of a suspect pointing a gun at her or at a member of her team. Every setback she had to bear while finding the person who had murdered her mother in an attempt to hide even greater things. Situations and people had stunned her to silence in many different ways but never had she anticipated to be sitting on this very swing set, in this meaningful location for the both of them and being stunned to silence by this very question.

Fractions of seconds passed by while Kate's mind was occupied with myriads of thoughts. The bigger part of her brain tried to figure out the sincerity of his question, mapping the familiar face and trying to decipher the emotions displayed there. How his blue eyes looked at her, how his earnest expression slowly but steadily turned into worry for she had not responded to his question, yet.

She couldn't move, she couldn't make a sound. She just looked at him, stunned, at a loss for words.

"_Kate_?"

His voice was quiet, cautious. He was still kneeling in front of her, looking into her eyes intently. Waiting. The wind brushed a few strands of her hair into her face and this worked as a little wake up call. She slowly raised her hand and tucked the loose strands behind her ear.

"_I_ …" she tried to say more. Tried to make sure she can explain how surprised she was. Mere moments ago she was mentally preparing for him to break up with her as he sternly said he wanted both of them to have more. Because they deserved it. And now this?

She had been so frustrated when he had ignored her question about where their relationship was going. Clearly, this was what she had meant. Of all times he had observed her in the past, spotted every undertone in her voice, every change of facial expression, uncovered all her "it's nothing's" he did not detect the underlying question of her "Castle, where are we going"?

"I am not entirely sure how to respond to that" is what she managed to get out. _No_! This felt very wrong. Why did she just say that? His face fell. The hand which was still holding up the stunning diamond ring dropped slightly, too.

"I guess I knew that"

"This is not what I mean." This made him look into her hazel eyes which were filling up with unshed tears as she leant towards him. "A couple of weeks ago I asked you where we were going and I meant this, I meant us. We really had a great run together. I just didn't know where we were headed, what you wanted from this, from us. And I had to make sure I knew what I wanted."

A soft smile played about her lips as she took Castle's hand into both of hers and looked at the ring it was still clasping.

"_Kate_?" Castle asked again, unable to keep the worry completely out of his voice.

"Please let me finish"

There was a slightly longer pause this time and Castle could tell Kate needed to find the words which would fit best. He knew the feeling very well. He had to deal with it in every book he had ever written. And re-written because he didn't like how the words sounded that he had produced. He knew she felt like she had just one shot to get it right and he was too desperate and too invested into her, into them, to interrupt her now.

* * *

"Someone I knew very well once told me that what you and I had was real. And that I should not look back and wonder "if only". Taking the job would have been one of those possibilities you have once, maybe twice in a lifetime. Not taking it could mean looking back at the missed opportunity and wonder what could have happened if you took it." Kate said, now kneeling in front of him, still holding his hand.

"I hide in my work. I don't open up to people, you're right. But I should have known better than to speak about MY life still. It is our life and I don't get to decide alone anymore. I can't do that. I know that now."

"_Yeah_?" he asked, still cautious not to interrupt her train of thought.

"Did you mean it when you said" whatever I did and whatever I decided, that this…" she gestured toward the ring "… is what you want? Do you really want this?"

"I want us. Always. The last year has been fantastic and I want more of that, I want it all. I think I just got comfortable with the way we were. We were amazing …" he stumbled over the past tense he has used and corrected himself quickly "...we ARE amazing."

She smiled. Oh _wow_, she smiled. He felt like a weight has been lifted off his chest, he feels like he is able to breathe again, although this was not over. She hadn't given him an answer, yet. He decided not to push this time, too. She needed to find the answer herself and doesn't need any guidance.

"I didn't want to push you away with actually phrasing what I wanted because I was afraid it might drive you away. I spoke to mother about it…" Kate's eyes widen and she is surprised to learn that he sought advice from the dramatic redhead "… and she made me realize that I wasn't sure if our relationship was going to work out."

Kate looked at him, mouth agape, slightly tightening the grasp of her hands around his hand. She had feared he might say something along these lines. Hadn't she been convinced he was about to end things when he started to speak barely a few minutes earlier? So this is where this was coming from. He had held back to not appear pushy. Given his background it could actually have been a good move. If she wanted that. But she didn't.

"So you let our relationship plateau?"

"Yeah, I guess I did." He admitted, looking slightly shaken. He felt stupid for not realizing how much she had needed his reassurance. She had hidden in relationships with men she hadn't loved. He remembers how he accused her of that. Accused her of hiding. Of pushing aside unpleasant decisions. Had he not wanted her to say that she wanted more than that? Hadn't he hoped she wanted him? Hadn't he hoped they were more? How could he have let her needs out of his sight? Why didn't he realize earlier?

The two of them were still kneeling in front of each other, beside a swing set in a crowded park. Two kids were running toward them, chasing each other. A boy and a girl. Whenever the little boy thought he caught the pig-tailed blonde girl, she narrowly escaped and ran off in another direction. Their laughter echoes around the playground.

"They could be us." Castle muttered under his breath. He is still careful not to make her wanna flee the scene. Still he needs to mock her, them, a little bit. He has always been the class clown, after all.

"_Yeah_, you could be right about that."

Kate lifted her right hand to caress his cheek and a wider smile formed on Castle's face.

"Even if you didn't listen to what I really meant to ask the other night when I wanted to ask you where the relationship was going, I can tell you listened when I said how a man should propose to a woman." Kate smiled.

"Big and intimate?"

"Big _and_ intimate."

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**A/N: Dun ... dun ... _duuuuun_! Do you think I will make her say yes, not yet, or no?**


	2. Tentative Agreement

**A/N: The title for this chapter was really easy this time around. Hopefully I'll do it justice. Note that I was inspired by tweets I've read on twitter so I think I should put this little disclaimer out there. Again, this chapter is beta-d by the lovely WriterLeigh.**

**Thank you so much for all the alerts, reviews and views I've gotten. I was excited all night, refreshing my traffic stats every fifteen minutes :-D So yeah, thanks I guess :-)**

**I have forgotten to mention earlier that I do not own Castle or the characters of this show. Care to explain why I don't? Because I am clueless.**

**Again, I kindly ask you to gently point any grammatical or spelling errors at me so that I can fix them. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2 - Tentative Agreement**  
**_  
_**_"Even if you didn't listen to what I really meant to ask the other night when I wanted to ask you where the relationship was going, I can tell you listened when I said how a man should propose to a woman." Kate smiles._

_"Big and intimate?"_

_"Big and intimate."_

* * *

"I was going for big and intimate."

"I can tell."

Kate smiled and took a closer look at the ring, which Rick had placed in the palm of his left hand. It was stunning, the right mixture between extravagant, special and modest. Extraordinary, even. Although she dreaded the word since a certain all too charming entrepreneur had used it for her. She didn't give him permission to intrude her thoughts and make her lose her focus. She had allowed him to plant doubts about her future in her head. Had woken her ambition and had made her venture on the trip to Washington.

What had slipped her mind was the fact that there might be another field she could be extraordinary in. Another career she could pursue.

"_Risking our hearts is why we're alive..._" Kate muttered, more to herself than to Castle. Yet, he heard.

"_What_?"

"Also something I had forgotten. But that won't happen again."

Kate looked into Castle's eyes, mesmerized by the depth of the blue color they had. Usually, when he was happy, they would sparkle and shine. Today they were not. But they were getting there again.

"This is getting uncomfortable" she smiled benignly, loosening the grip of her hands on his to reach up. She swiped her almost waist-long hair to one side and reached behind her neck to undo the clasp of her necklace, bringing it toward his hands with the sparkling engagement ring.

"Why don't we join the two?" Kate asked and Castle gasped for breath. She carefully took the ring and attached it to her necklace. It felt right to have it there. She felt complete.

"Does that mean…?"

"It does" she said, closing the clasp behind her neck and looking into his now sparkling blue eyes. For a second she was lost in the depths of an ocean, storms raging behind his eyes mirroring the internal struggle of the last minutes.

His wide smile is breathtaking, the strain of the last weeks forgotten for a moment. His proposal had been raw, it had been a spur of the moment decision and it included his support for her, no matter what she decided to do with her career. He genuinely didn't begrudge it to her. Whether or not they had actually offered her the advance in her job, he didn't doubt she had made quite an impression. She did on him. Every time he got to look at her. Slowly the meaning of her words sinks in and he cannot hold back a small laughter.

"You really say yes?"

"I'm saying "yes, but…"because we still have a lot to talk about. I didn't even get to tell you that I got the official job offer today."

His smile froze. Indeed, they have a lot to talk about. This wonderful opportunity which arose out of nowhere and coincided with her reflecting on the perspectives she had, the paths she could chose. How stupid had he been not realizing how much was going on behind the pretty forehead of hers. Castle mentally slapped himself for being too unobservant to notice anything in the last couple of weeks.

"Don't blame yourself for my actions, Castle" Kate said, rising to her feet, offering him her hand to help him get up, too. He takes it, a warmth seemingly emanating from her touch which slowly moved through his body until it reached the parts of his hearth that felt like they had been frozen, isolated.

"Huh?" he muttered, standing on his feet again. _Wow_, he is _actually_ getting older. And that _knee_ of his …

"I can see that you do. We both have things to be sorry for. I shouldn't have kept secrets, especially not from you. That job description sounded too good to be true, to be honest. I somehow needed to give it a shot. I want to be more than just a homicide detective. One day I might be."

"Wait, does that mean you didn't accept?"

Kate shook her head slowly. She had gone to her apartment to think, had only clued Esposito in that she was leaving the precinct early to get something off her mind. The job opportunity had been appealing, alright. But what she had needed to do was reflecting on why she always ran when relationships had threatened to become any serious. If she did that all the time, how come she had actually craved for more? Hadn't she even been the one who was trying to get to the bottom of things? It inevitably led her to the conclusion that there was a big part of her that was done being afraid of commitment. A curious part even, which desperately needed to know if she could be good at this. At making a relationship last. Without knowing it, Castle had given her the final puzzle piece. She hadn't been sure if they were on the same page regarding their future. Now she was able to see that they were. Kate gestured him towards the exit of the park where her car was parked. He hesitantly lifted his right hand to interlock their fingers, desperate for the contact. She needed it, too. Their hands entwined, they slowly approached the iron gates.

"These people in Washington, Castle, they were…" she trailed off, searching for the best description she could give him "…surreal. They were all fancy dressed and looked important, even the clerks looked aloof. It is no wonder all the FBI agents we've worked with looked so out of place at the Twelfth."

Castle remembered the fancy attire of all the special agents they had met. He grinned in response.

"They looked all too perfect, Castle, but I remembered what happened when Will took the job with the FBI …" Castle cringed at the name-dropping of one of Kate's ex-boyfriends, "…and I realized they just looked perfect but can their lives be perfect if that means they had to sacrifice other parts that made them who they were? Life is messy, not perfect."

They had reached Kate's car and Castle opened the front passenger's door, abruptly stopping when he became aware of the look on Kate's face.

"_Kate_?"

She whispered: "I _want_ messy and I want _honest_."

"I agree" he said, mirroring her words from the swing set, taking his seat on the passenger's side and closing the door with a small bang. As soon as she sat beside him and had put the key into the ignition, it felt as if they were actually getting somewhere. The prospect of the car taking them somewhere lightened the mood measurably.

Kate stared the car and slowly moved it through the busy traffic, headed to the loft.

"_Castle_…?" She started, suddenly fully aware of the impact the following sentences will have on both of their lives.

"Yes, Kate?" His eyes searched hers through the rear view mirror.

Not at all surprisingly her mouth had gone completely dry as if it was its mission to keep her from uttering the information she needed to get out there. She clears her throat and starts again.

"While … while we're being so open with each other … there might be another thing I should be telling you."

He raised his eyebrows, unsure if he wants to know what she is about to say.

"I've not been drinking coffee lately…"

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**A/N: See? I didn't make her say yes, maybe and no. I made her say, "_yes, but_..." which I found reasonable and which I felt fit best. This is also why she has not put it on her finger ;-)**

**One of my major complaints about the last arc of the season ( the horrible Mr. Fantastic storyline - I am still downright abashed for not realizing that Ioan Gruffudd is freaking(!) Mr. Fantastic(!) from the freaking movies. Stupid me! - killed my mood ... ) would be how weirdly Kate behaved. What I did realize writing partly from her perspective was the fact that we might have seen a development instead which I tried to tackle here. She used to run away when things threaten to get serious - now she is the one who wants to know where a relationship is headed. If you ask me, this is quite something. Let me know what you think about that if you want to :-) I am still gutted she didn't confide in Castle, though. Ah well, ...**

**So, what's the deal with the coffee? Has she just not craved any because she was mad at Castle or insecure about this symbol or is there more to the story? :-) See you soon, you blow my mind :-***


	3. Misleading Labeling

**A/N: Awww, thank you for every single alert / favorite and follow I got. Thanks for every click on the story. It means a lot. I had felt pretty insecure about putting it out there so it is partly WriterLeigh's fault that it is. Go ahead and blame her. Do it now! :D **

**To find out if she is actually expecting ( as some of you expect ) you will have to continue reading this story. You'll find out in this chapter. And please don't give me the high-five. In the face. With a chair. If my solution isn't quite what you wanted, I hope you might still be able to tell why I did what I did ;-) This chapter was difficult. It wouldn't wanna scream "I'm perfect" ... ah well.**

**The usual disclaimer, Andrew Marlowe and ABC own Castle, I don't. I hereby only declare that this is not my fault :-P**

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** Chapter 3 - Misleading Labeling**

_"Castle…?" She started, suddenly fully aware of the impact the following sentences will have on both of their lives._

_"Yes, Kate?" His eyes searched hers through the rear view mirror._

_Not at all surprisingly her mouth had gone completely dry as if it was its mission to keep her from uttering the information she needed to get out there. She clears her throat and starts again._

_"While … while we're being so open with each other … there might be another thing I should be telling you."_

_He raises his eyebrows, unsure if he wants to know what she is about to say._

_"I've not been drinking coffee lately…"_

* * *

Castle wasn't sure how to respond to such a bombshell. At least if it actually meant what it implied. The complexity of the issues they had to tackle seemed to multiply by at least 160. They hadn't been able to express their wishes for a future together, how could a baby fit into this equation? If he was completely honest with himself, it couldn't. It was hell of a big deal. The whole topic was part of all the unspoken, unresolved issues standing between them like a wall. He felt his mouth forming a small grin. Yeah, it seemed to be all about walls with her. This ultimately was who she was. In the end, it was about his walls, too. Tearing them all down would be a lifelong process, but here he was, sitting next to the only person he could imagine doing it with. Yet, she hadn't finished the sentence and he turned his torso toward her, signaling he was listening attentively while she was navigating her car closer to his Broome Street address.

"... I simply could not _smell_ it anymore. I didn't know whether it was because we were being complicated again..." she snorted at the memory.

"... or if it was something else all together?" he finished the sentence for her. This is what they used to be good at. Finishing the sentences the partner had started. Building theories together. They needed to get there again.

"Or that it was something else all together..." she repeated, stopping at a red light and turning towards him.

"...which it wasn't."

* * *

They spent the rest of the drive in silence, each lost deep in thought.

Kate knew he needed an explanation other than fancy suits and limited lifestyles for her declining a job opportunity of a lifetime and she was more than willing to provide it. Even though she had immediately jumped to conclusions after her recent distaste for coffee. The brown liquid had become her lifeline and it had become Castle's mission to provide her with just the right amount to get her through the day. Deep inside of her she had instinctively known that something was off. Expect it wasn't the obvious answer.

When they reached his apartment building she parked in the reserved spot in front of the building and stopped the engine. She thought it was too fancy but Castle's loft didn't just come with a doorman and security, it also came with a very reliable person to park cars and drop keys of at the front desk. There was even an errand-boy who brought them up to the apartments if requested. _Oh well_...

"_Kate_...?" he asked tentatively.

"I know. Let's go home." she answered and opened the driver's door after checking the traffic.

Her choice of words made her pause for an instant. She sighed. There was absolutely no need for complicating things. Although she had the slight feeling that living with Rick Castle would never be just easy. It would be messy. Being his wife would be complicated, messy. But if they managed to steer away from all the trouble which had lurked around corners recently, they would also get honest. And amazing. '_Amazing does sound pretty good to me_' she thought.

Her choice of words weren't unnoticed. Like Kate, Castle had barely said a word on the ride to his loft. A big part of him was still caught in the course of action he had pursued before with her. And how stupid he had been. Castle mentally scolded himself for ignoring her allusions to her feelings and for underestimating her strength. _Wait_? It was true, he had been following her around for years waiting for her walls to crumble. She was opening up to him. She had shown him how much she must love him, she had actually said it. And Kate had been right. They were just getting started. It was time they talked about it.

Castle got out of the car and waited for Kate to join him. He reached out for her and she takes his hand, the connection sending small electric waves through their bodies.

The elevator ride was as silent as the car ride had been. Castle brushed a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear again and she smiled. His thumb gently caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes, leaning in to the touch.

* * *

"I could take a shower" Kate said, entering the loft.

"I'll wait for you in the bedroom?" he asked, still not completely sure about the more intimate setting. After all, the evening promises a conversation of the rather uncomfortable kind. Also he is still curious where her lack of caffeine need is coming from.

"Mmhh, 'kay" she mumbled, suddenly all too aware of his presence.

Their physical attraction had always led to spectacular results - it was almost always tangible, an underlying humming to every move they made around each other. It had all started when she had challenged him at the end of their first case together; making him want to find out if they would be great together. They were. They would be. Soon.

After twenty minutes Castle started to worry. Kate had disappeared into the bathroom but never turned on the shower. He focusses on the noise from the bathroom. Nope. There weren't any. At least none that he could detect.

He finds her standing in front of the mirror in her underwear, looking at her physique, her flat stomach, her arms, her breasts, her pelvis. He catches her turning around to look at her belly from the side, her right hand mapping the flat surface. He looks at her face. 'She's sad' he realizes. He clears his throat.

"_Castle_!" she cried out.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" he apologized, a genuine ruefulness in his every cell.

"This is even _worse_ than the giant Boba Fett that used to live here" she said in a hushed tone, looking at the very spot the gigantic Star Wars replica used to be.

"You seem to be ... lost in thought" he added.

"Yeah" she answers, turning towards him.

"Care to elaborate? I promise I am listening this time."

Kate let out a sigh. It appeared as if the moment had come. She had to give him the other reason that kept her in the city, that made her say 'no' to a wonderful job opportunity presented by Special Agent Stack.

"I talked to my dad about all of this" she gestured around the room "The job offer, me practically living here, _you_..."

Castles shocked expression has her laughing. He chuckled, too.

"Hey, Castle! I am really trying here?"

"I know. Sorry! Shutting up!"

"Thank you. Now, I talked to my dad and I said that I didn't know what we had. That I didn't know if it was real. Even if I should have known better. He told me what I had actually known deep down inside me but never admitted until that very moment. He said that whenever things got serious I hid in my work and that I've never let a relationship go this far as I have with you."

"I told him that I wanted this job and I was pretty sure I did. We were challenged recently and until earlier..." she involuntarily touched the two rings on her necklace "... I didn't know what you really wanted."

Castle opened his mouth to contradict but she gestures him to wait for her to finish.

"I spoke to the suspect and I told him that he didn't get to lie to me in the very room in which we were since it was my home. A place I come to every day. I told him that many people before him had sat in the chair he sat on, lying to my face. I told him that I caught every single one of them. He wasn't allowed to insult me in there, Castle, he just wasn't. All of the sudden I wasn't sure about the job offer anymore"

"The boys caught me in my strange mood. They're detectives" she grinned "they knew something was off. Especially after the coffee went down the drain ... I told them that there was someone else I needed to speak to, first."

"I thought you wanted to tell me you accepted the job offer" Castle replied sullenly.

"And _I_ thought you we're going to break up with me, Castle, because let's face it, you would have been right. I would not have had time beside this job. We saw what an impact it had on Agent Shaw. If I was single and didn't have to care about anyone else but me it would be completely fine. But I am not alone, I am with you. Then I realized that there was this other thing that I might be good at..." she trails off, hoping he could follow her ramblings.

"You thought you wanted to be ...?" he encouraged her to go on. He still assumed that there was more to the story. He might have to become more patient.

She went on.

"... successful in another way. And yet there I was, sitting on a swing set in the park, mentally preparing for you to break up with me after I just concluded I might even be ready to tackle the bigger things life has to offer. Our timing is always so off..."

He nodded. "I couldn't agree more here, look Kate, I ..."

"Shhh, Castle..."

Castle raised an eyebrow only to realize that he interrupted her again.

"I'm sorry, so you sat there thinking I would break up with you and then what?"

She smiled at the recollection of the unusual sternness of his expression as he had said the words she would forever be able to replay in her head. '_Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?_' "... and then you get on one knee and you did what you did and I ... I ..."

"What you're saying is ... I _amazed_ you?" Castle said and steps closer to her. Standing behind her he wraps his muscular arms around her, his hands resting on her belly.

She snorted. Naturally he would say things like that. To lighten the mood. Also to redirect the attention to something else.

"We're gonna talk about your aversion to talk about the _big_ things in life, Castle. We will" she promised, glaring at him in the mirror.

"Do we have to do this now? he whined "let's not forget, you've almost taken all of your clothes off. Let's not waste this opportunity, shall we?"

This time she was gonna let him redirect her attention.

Just this once.

They weren't done.

* * *

**A/N: So she is not pregnant but she is also not ready to tell him she sees herself as a mother one day. I did that on purpose since I feel it is something the real Kate Beckett wouldn't put out there easily. She would make him scratch and claw and quite frankly, I think she should. I feel that she is insecure about their age difference and about the fact that Castle has done everything once before with Alexis. Who would not question if he would be ready to eventually do it again? I sure know I would :-) I will address this from Castle's angle in the next chapter. We might also see Esposito, Ryan and Lanie. I miss them :)**

**Not much of a cliffhanger here but we're not done either. I mean, it's Castle's turn now, isn't it? It's one thing to think the right things but it might be an even better idea to actually say something. Please leave a review if you find the time. I enjoy every single one of them immensely :) Hugs xoxo**  
**P.S. Interestingly, I write to "Theophilus London - Wine & Chocolate (andhim Remix) - can anyone spot the Castle reference in there? Also gift me with a review if you do ;-)**


	4. Cards on the Table

**A/N: This chapter is a little longer because it needed to be. I hope her motivation for declining becomes clearer in here. Let me know what you think.** **Also, one day people will start noticing the second ring on her necklace. I wonder ...  
Apologies though, the boys will have to make their entrance later.**

**I don't own the characters nor the whole show "Castle" - Andrew Marlowe and ABC do. If I had the money .. oh well. **

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**Chapter 4 - Cards on the Table**

_"We're gonna talk about your aversion to talk about the big things in life, Castle. We will" she promises, glaring at him in the mirror._

_"Do we have to do this now? he whines "let's not forget, you've almost taken all of your clothes off. Let's not waste this opportunity, shall we?"_

_This time she is gonna let him redirect her attention._

_Just this once._

_They weren't done._

* * *

After almost a whole hour in Castle's humungous and somewhat glamorous bathroom (_seriously_, he could fit a freaking life-size Boba Fett in there...) in which they were both carried away into a blissful oblivion (his hands ... his _hands_!), Castle got dressed in boxers and one of his Marvel-themed sleeping shirts and excused himself to the kitchen muttering something along the lines of "someone must feed you".

Their lovemaking had been slow at first as he had made it his mission to comfort her in any way possible, washing her long hair and massaging her scalp in slow circles that massively reduced the stress the last days had created in her system. Instinctively he had known which muscles were sore and made quick work of the stiffness and soreness by skillfully pushing into her muscles, circling the tensions and chasing them off.

It hadn't been long when Kate glided into his strong arms, boneless, her eyelids heavy, purring with satisfaction. He kissed her shoulders and softly bit into her neck.

"Is there still anything you need, detective?" he hummed.

"Mhhh" Kate answered, her tongue heavy with content.

"Are you hungry?"

"Mhhh"

He took this as an affirmation and ventured off into the kitchen to make dinner. Kate wrapped herself in one of his extra soft and fluffy bath towels and faced herself in the mirror again. She looked at her reflection. Her wet hair clung to her face and neck, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled. Reminiscent from the hurly-burly that her day had been, smeared mascara and eyeliner coated the area under her eyes. She opened one of the cabinet doors to her right and took out two cotton pads and removed the black mess. '_Very attractive, huh_?' she thought to herself. Once she had cleaned up the mess water, steam and mostly Castle's lovemaking had done to the remains of her makeup, she threw away the dirty cotton pads and looked at her reflection again. She looked happier. Happier than she had been this morning.

Only a couple of hours ago, Kate had received the call from the agency's office in Washington, congratulating her on the successful job interview, almost pressuring her into answering the question "When can you start?" with "Now". She had told them that before she could give them a definitive answer there were several phone calls to make and people to talk to. Not to mention that her relationship stood on wobbly legs due to her keeping secrets. Kate shook her head. '_I should apologize again_' she thought.

Although the phone call happened only a few hours ago, Kate felt as if she had distanced herself from the Kate Beckett she had been in that very moment. The Kate Beckett who had a gut feeling that she was missing an important puzzle piece, the Kate Beckett that hadn't realized where her home was and where her priorities lay. Even though her distaste for coffee was not connected to a pregnancy, Kate hadn't been able to shake off the thought of a family of her own. It was in this very moment when the puzzle pieces fell together except for the final piece.

Kate had realized she wanted an own family. For thirteen years her work had meant the most for her. Catching killers and putting them behind bars, mostly not Esposito's preferred scenario when Jack shot Bill for Jill. Each case meant new commitment for her, a new need to bring a killer to justice and to bring clarification for the friends and families of the victims. In the three minutes it had taken her to wait for the results of her pregnancy tests (three, because _really_, which woman did just one?) she realized three things which didn't before but made perfect sense the moment the thoughts occurred to her:

One: She didn't mind working longer because when she was finished, she got to go home to Castle.

Two: Whenever he had a new chapter due or was busy with his bloodsucking editor / ex-wife Gina at Black Pawn and could not come in to work, Kate had felt useless at times. No one threw crazy theories at her about ninjas, assassins, smurfs or comic characters. It was downright boring. Even on the much dreaded paperwork or court days when there was nothing for Castle to do at the precinct and he stayed home, she had felt as if something was missing. He had been right all along. She was his work wife.

Three: Yes, they had wanted her for the job in Washington D.C.. Yet, the difference being that her cases were all teamwork. They consisted of Castle's (wildly inappropriate) theories and his instinct for the stories behind the obvious. The never tiresome Ryan and Esposito had dug through hundreds upon hundreds of old case files, telephone records and canvassed so many crime scenes. And Lanie ... without Lanie and her exhilarant character Kate's work days would be unbearable. Not to mention all the times the M.E. had secretly or not so secretly mentioned the likelihood of Castle and Beckett hitting it off.

She had a boyfriend to go home to. He had a daughter she endlessly adored. A whirlwind of a mother whose advice she had secretly sought on numerous occasions resulting in a glorious birthday surprise for Castle. Thirteen years ago all she had was her mother's case and her eagerness and determination to find her killer. She had an apartment to come home to and sometimes a boyfriend that she could call. None of it was real. None of it felt how it felt now. Her mother would never be forgotten but she could not sacrifice more time of her life chasing after the truth. It couldn't consume her. It couldn't break her. It shouldn't stop her. She needed the progress. She was willing to start now.

* * *

Kate dried her hair with another smaller towel and used a hair tie to create a messy bun. She went into the bedroom and opened one of the drawers she had occupied with her clothes and other belongings. She smiled. She had secretly moved a lot of her stuff into Castle's loft without even noticing it. 'W_e are practically living together_' she though and put on a plain white bra and matching panties. She put on a tank top and yoga pants, matching Castle's "boxers and a shirt" attire from earlier. If things got too uncomfortable when they talked things through, the clothes they wore should at least be suitable. She carelessly threw the towel in the hamper and made her way into the kitchen.

She had to bear down a chuckle at the scenario in front of her. Castle stood behind the kitchen counter, a kitchen towel swung over his shoulder, preparing what looked like a mixed salad. The pasta he had cooked was cooling in a bowl beside him and the sauce still on the stove.

"Hey" Kate said, making him aware of her presence. The two rings on her necklace sparkled against the plain dark tank top she was wearing. Castle's eyes immediately shifted to the diamond sparkle reflecting in the kitchen lights.

"You know, it suits you..."

"Drop it, Castle" she retorted.

"Alright, alright..." he backed off, nonetheless wearing a huge grin on his face.

"Is there anything I can help you with? she asked, unwilling to let him do all the work.

"Almost finished here, Beckett. You can go ahead and take your seat, dinner will be served shortly."

Just as Kate was about to take the first bite of what sure looked like a crunchy and fresh salad, the door burst open and Martha, the red-headed whirlwind entered the loft.

"Daaaarlings, now isn't this wonderful" Martha exclaimed at the sight of them sitting there, together. She approaches the dinner table and exchanges a quick glance with her son, the question in her eyes apparent '_Son, what did you do and what happened?'_

Castle cleared his throat. Some pasta apparently had taken the wrong route.

"Kate and I are just having dinner. We've plenty of pasta left, mother. If you want to join us...?"

"What a lovely invitation, _darling_, but I've already made dinner reservations with some students of my acting school, I thought we should be celebrating today's progress they've made" Martha answers, almost fully turned to then ascend the stairs to her room when a small gleam caught her eyes.

"Oh well, I guess someone else is celebrating today's success ... hm?"

Castle's eyes widened in pure shock and bewilderment. His mother has by far the worst timing of the three, always making dramatic entrances and addressing the most uncomfortable topics when no one is ready to talk about them. Today is clearly one of these days. Kate must feel it, too. Clearly, she cannot be comfortable with Martha noticing the sparkling diamond ring on her necklace and the assumptions voiced at the view. To his utter astonishment he is wrong.

"Not _completely_ there, yet, Martha ..." Kate said, a soft smile playing around her lips. She stretched her hand out to Castle and he took it, fingers entwined, his thumb caressing her hand. "... but I am quite sure we're gonna get there."

"Ah, how wonderful" Martha burst out, taking a step forward to hug both Kate and her son. They hugged in this unequal and awkward position and Kate was oddly at ease with the situation. Just as they had kept their relationship a secret at first, she had thought the cautious progress they've made now should be concealed from their friends and family for a while longer. '_Well, he cat's out of the bag now_' she thought, observing Castle and his mother exchanging another silent look. Apparently he could do it with more than one woman in his life. Kate didn't doubt, Alexis and Castle could use eye-communication as well.

"I'll excuse myself now, darlings, go, continue your feastful meal.." Martha said and dashed out of the room, up the stairs. When she reached the landing, she shouted: "... needless to mention that I want a say in the flower decoration!"

Now it is Kate's turn to cough. She hasn't even officially said 'yes' and Martha is already demanding a say in the decoration? She shook her head in bewilderment.

"Kate..." Castle said softly but hesitantly. His eyes were wary, she could tell he was afraid that this little intermezzo might drive her off.

"It's alright, Castle" Kate responded, wiping her mouth with her napkin, "it is who she is. Besides, I'll say my 'yes' sooner or later. Why already ruining all the fun for her?"

* * *

Later, much later Kate and Castle were nestled in bed, laying in each others arms. Despite the coziness, the nearness and them being just them, snuggled up to each other, they knew it was time to talk.

"Let's start with Vaughn..." Kate said and Castle cringes with the thought of the extravagant entrepreneur Kate had to protect a couple of weeks ago. "...talking about him doesn't make my Top Ten either, Castle, but we need to address this." Castle let out a heavy sigh.

"I shouldn't have allowed him this close to me, Castle and I am sorry." Kate said, wiggling out of his arms to be able to see into Castle's eyes. She hoped he could see the true remorse in there. He could.

"It still bothers me, Kate. I won't lie about that. Like I said, I've had to scratch and claw for every inch and then I finally get you to open up and you allow me to love you and this ..." he was lost, searched for words not too inappropriate, "... _person_ gets into your head and messes with it. How long had you known him? Barely a day."

The pain in his voice was apparent and Kate swallowed heavily. The situation with Vaughn had been messed up. She needed to fix it.

"He got into my head, Castle. He pushed the right buttons or maybe just nailed it with a few guesses. Whatever it was, I still cannot believe that I hesitated when he asked me about us. My first response should have been that it is serious and that I know where I belong. I was stupid for not telling him off."  
A single tear makes its way down her cheek.

"Yeah, you were" Castle said bitterly.

"The good thing about the whole mess is that he got me thinking where I saw myself in a couple of years. Naturally, you'd appear in my thoughts there Castle, but I cannot deny that he woke my ambition to become even more. This job offer which followed was very tempting and a chance to do more. But not at the expanse of my life. I know that now. I wouldn't be able to make plans, be spontaneous, spend time with you. You were completely right, it would have basically been the end of our relationship. I couldn't have that. Not when..."

"Not when what?" Castle asked curious.

"Not when I wanted a family of my own. Eventually."

There. She said it. She waited for Castle to freak out at the news. Clearly he would, wouldn't he?

"And you thought the distaste for coffee might be because you were pregnant?" Castle grinned, unimpressed. She needed more to actually make him cringe or run. This revelation only made him exceptionally happy. If he was honest to himself, he hadn't known if Kate saw such a future for herself. Now he could relax. Without knowing it, they had been on the same page for quite some time.

She just nodded.

"I would have loved that, Kate."

All she can do is look. Startled.

"Nothing would please me more than you wearing that ring..." he gestured toward the place right above her scar where the sparkling diamond engagement ring is nestled against the fabric of her top. "... and cursing the day I got you pregnant because your clothes won't fit you anymore and you'd need thrice the time from the bed to the bathroom as you cannot see your feet" Castle planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

A second tear fought its way down Kate's cheek, a third followed. She wiped them away.

"I bought the ring two months ago, right after my birthday." Castle said and lifts her chin up with one hand. "I wanted to wait for the right moment. As right moments never identify themselves properly, I must have missed it. You could argue that I did it today to convince you to stay with me, Kate, but I didn't. I knew we could go anywhere and be amazing together. I just wanted you to be sure that I took us seriously enough. I had the ring for a while when Vaughn..." he spat out his name "... happened and while Alexis defended your unbroken fidelity to me, mother pointed out that I hadn't given you a ring yet."

"She did?" Kate couldn't hold back a chuckle, despite her conflictive mood.

"Oh yes, she did. And I knew she was right. I had two test runs and my marriages failed miserably because I married the wrong women for the wrong reasons. Right during, I think it was our second or third case together, you said you we're the '_one and done_' type of girl. I won't lie Kate, the pressure was on me here. I didn't want to push to hard to not scare you off. Secretly, I wasn't believing we would work out. I had already bought a ring and still ... I couldn't push you, so I waited. I must have missed the right moment to listen, then, right? In retrospect, naturally you weren't asking about us going to the bedroom. You wanted to know if I wanted to take this further ..."

"That's one way of putting it"

"... and I clearly suck at identifying the important moments. Look, Kate, I shouldn't have allowed you to doubt how devoted I was to you. Never. I am truly sorry. I am also sorry for not coming up with a more elaborated way of proposing to you. Candles. Flowers. Maybe a Marinacci band ..."

"Seriously? A Marinacci band?"

"Ah well, a man can dream"

"Sooo..."

"Hmmm?"

"Where are we going, Castle?"

"We are going to get married?"

"Nice try, Castle" Kate chuckled, the tears long dried on her cheeks. They had miscommunicated. It wasn't the first time that it happened and it probably wouldn't be the last. But the cards were on the table now.

"How about this" Kate said, looking into his eyes, "I will put the ring on my finger when I think the time is right to make it official."

He pouted. Naturally he would do that.  
Castle knew that she was right. She had to decide when they're ready. They were getting there and today had been a good start.

"Oh and Castle?" Kate asked, a devilish grin on her face, "you might wanna tell Martha she can't tell anyone. But I assume flower arrangements can be tested without the bride even being present or named, right?"

* * *

**A/N: This is the longest chapter of them all. It flowed so nicely I just had to keep going. Let me know what you think. A review only takes a minute out of your day and would be greatly appreciated. Again, please point any grammatical or lexical errors my way. Please be gentle.**

**I've started a Castle re-watch-athon with 1x01 "Flowers for your Grave" today. Who spotted the reference to that episode in this chapter? Mention it in the review if you did! :-) It is WriterLeigh's fault that this story even exists. Pay her stories a visit if you have the time! xoxo**


	5. Interruptions

**A/N: Thanks for the response to the chapter. I've corrected the Star Wars mistake I made as soon as I saw the review. Thanks for letting me know :) For those who thought Castle needs to say more, just you wait. He's just getting started.**

**I am actually considering turning this into a Hiatus "Fic-A-Thon" Story so let me know if you want that. I might throw in actual case work and if Marlowe steals that from me (as the proposal which I called in 5x01(!)) I'm gonna sue his ass. Mainly, because I don't own Castle ;-) No offense, Marlowe, I adore you ;-)**

**This chapter is for 0sunny0 - because you did the thing with the thing and the thing when I showed you the thing ;-) **

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Interruptions**

_"Where are we going, Castle?"_

_"We are going to get married?"_

_"Nice try, Castle" Kate chuckled, the tears long dried on her cheeks. They had miscommunicated. It wasn't the first time that it happened and it probably wouldn't be the last. But the cards were on the table now._

_"How about this" Kate said, looking into his eyes, "I will put the ring on my finger when I think the time is right to make it official."_

_He pouted. Naturally he would do that._  
_Castle knew that she was right. She had to decide when they're ready. They were getting there and today had been a good start._

_"Oh and Castle?" Kate asked, a devilish grin on her face, "you might wanna tell Martha she can't tell anyone. But I assume flower arrangements can be tested without the bride even being present or named, right?"_

* * *

Rays of sunshine peeked through the blinds of Richard Castle's bedroom the following morning. Castle woke from an unwanted tingle in his nose. Careful not to wake Kate he fought down a sneeze and slowly removed her arm from across his abdomen. Still tired he yawned and looked at his alarm clock. 6.18 am. Not his usual time to start a writing day but who knew what good it would do to be up at a more decent time. He decided to let her sleep until the alarm clock would go off in about 45 minutes. He scuffled into the adjacent bathroom quietly and took a quick shower remembering the rest of the bygone night.

After Kate had mocked him about the flower arrangements his mother had 'happily mentioned' shortly before, they abandoned the momentary happy mood and resumed their talk. It didn't stop with Vaughn. Naturally it didn't but he had been the pivot to their situation.

* * *

_"No, Castle, you're completely right, I had no right to betray you like that. He got to me and I shouldn't have allowed that, period."_

_"Humpf."_

_"Look, I never meant any of this to happen. Really, I even drank alcohol on the job? That fact alone is unforgivable. I still won't plead for temporary intoxication, though. I was just being downright stupid."_

_"I wouldn't argue with that here, Kate. But don't let me off the hook too easily here, will you?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I was jealous and it didn't do us any good."_

_"Oh, please Castle, that's the least of our problems at the moment! I actually thought it was kind of sweet, an over-protective insane kind of sweet, but sweet."_

_He grinned. "It's not as if I hadn't been wrong, is it?"  
_

* * *

Castle let the soft drops of water fall down on his body. He stood there, his forehead pressed to the still cool while tiles of his bathroom wall, his hands raised shoulder high, equally touching the cool surface. His body was kind of stiff. She had fallen asleep in his arms, he had still been sitting upright. Eventually he would fall asleep, unwilling to disrupt her peaceful slumber. When it came to Kate Beckett he tried to be as patient and respectful as could be. He swore to himself that he would not allow anything to disrupt their relationship ever again. Well, nothing he could in any way influence that was. A first baby step was done. They had talked and decided that it was all worth the effort. Nothing he hadn't already known but he had to admit that Martha's comment about him 'not being sure if in the end it working out' had made him realize how badly he wanted it to last forever. No pressure at all. He let out a sigh, broke away from the wall and reached for his shower gel.

* * *

_"No" she said quietly._

_"I knew it..." he said but trailed off, unsure what to say next._

_"Look Castle, I love you, I really do. Even if I didn't tell you from the start, clearly you must've known ... must've felt..."_

_"I know .. I did." he mumbled, kissing the top of her head._

_"Like I said, maybe Vaughn just guessed correctly. But nothing should have made me allow him leaning over to kiss me. Nothing, Castle! I feel sick to my stomach even thinking about it now. What a way to show my feelings for you ..." she adds bitterly._

* * *

Kate woke up around 6.45 am. Running slightly ahead of her schedule she stretched her limbs only to realize that the right part of the bed he occupied was vacant, his smell lingering on the sheets. She ran her hands over the spot where her partner, boyfriend and soon-to-be-called fiancée must have been earlier and feels the last remnants of his body heat on the rapidly cooling sheets.

She heard the shower going and knew he must be in there to get an extra kick in the morning. He usually slept in on writing days which today would have been if it hadn't been for her to ask him to come to the precinct with her today. Ryan and Esposito deserved an explanation for her weird behavior over the last couple of days. They might leave out the engagement plot from the swings and leave that for later.

Kate slowly got off the bed, her toes feeling around for her slippers. She found them lying under the adjacent chair. The same place as her shirt and pants she had carelessly thrown on there before she had entered the bathroom the evening before. 'I really like that chair' she thought. Castle had picked it out and one day it simply stood there, big and comfortable for a long read after work. '_Or as a place to throw my clothes_ on' she thought.

Kate ventured off into the kitchen in search of some coffee.

* * *

_"We've been tested, Kate. That's what happened. After everything we've been through together, a preposterous billion-dollar entrepreneur shouldn't have been an obstacle for us. But you know what? I would like to forget him all together. I'm perfectly content with pretending he doesn't even exist..."_

_"You think we can do that?" Kate asked, suddenly experiencing the full impact of her misdeed weighing her down._

_"It's our future, Kate. There is no space for anyone else in there apart from our friends, families and colleagues" he said, determination coating his every feature._

_"Okay."_

_He nudged her side playfully. _

_"Can I ask you one more question?"_

_"Isn't that one already?" she smiled coyly._

_"Granted. Another, then?"_

_"Um, Castle...?"_

_"Jeez Kate, will you just let me ask?" he nudged her side once again._

_"Sure. While we're at it..."_

_"What was in that letter of Royce's?"_

* * *

Rick remembered her disbelieving look. After two years had passed he had asked what Royce's letter had contained. He should have kept himself in check. He had never doubted that Kate had lied to his face shrugging her phone call to her former mentor and partner off like it had been nothing. Rick had known better. But even back in the day he wouldn't force her into admitting that she'd lied. He bitterly regretted the first time he hadn't listened when she asked him to back off from her private life. Although it had re-opened her mother's murder case it had also temporarily shattered their relationship completely.

Thank god she'd taken him back eventually.

He turned off the hot water and let the cold water cool him down and wake him up. He stood there for as long as he was able to bear the cold. He turned off the water completely and stepped out of the shower, leaving a wet trail where he went.

He never admitted to her how he was jealous of every men that had gotten to touch her, kiss her, tell her goodnight and good morning before he even had the chance to meet her. He could only imagine how it must feel for her, knowing that he'd been married twice before and had raised a daughter of his own. He was glad she now knew he would love to do it again. The knee itched from time to time after surgery and he was hiding reading glasses in his desk in the office but other than that he felt pretty confident to be able to follow a crawling toddler around the loft.

He went into the bedroom, a towel carelessly wrapped around his hips. The bed was vacant but he smelled the delicious smell of coffee coming from the kitchen and assumed she must have gone hunting the brown liquid. He was relieved to find her craving it again.

He got dressed quickly and walked over to the kitchen.

* * *

_"I ... umm..." Kate stuttered, surprised by his question._

_"Everybody knew he wrote you a letter, he had it in his back pocket when he was found. For about two years I've wondered what it was all about. When we were in LA..."_

_"Hold on." She stops him, a thought occurring to her. "Two years ago? Castle, did you write the bucket list in Los Angeles?"_

_"Um, yeah, but that's not the point here, Kate, the point is..."_

_"You wanted to kiss me then and there, Castle! I knew it!" she exclaims in delight at the memory._

_He shrugged. "I won't deny that."_

_"Ha!"_

_"Kate?"_

_"Sorry, alright ... hang on." Kate quickly climbed out of the bed and went over to one of the drawers she occupied. She searched in it for about a minute and then held up a small piece of paper which was folded together neatly. She climbed back into the bed, beside Castle, unfolded Royce's letter and began to read._

_"... So why am I writing this? Because I think there is a chance that we might never talk again. And if that happens I don't want you thinking that I had any hard feelings about how things went down between us. You did what you had to do and I am so proud of you now as I always was._

_Now for the hard part, kid. Not for me. It's clear that Castle and you have something real and you're fighting it but trust me: Putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. The last thing you wanna is to look back on your life and wonder, if only."_

_"What can I say to that?" Castle mumbled and caressed her arm tenderly. "I didn't know he thought this way."_

_"Neither did I though it seems as if everybody understood what we had before we did."_

_"That's life" he shrugged, pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you for sharing the letter with me, Kate. I know how much he meant to you."_

* * *

Castle found Kate sitting at the kitchen counter, deeply in conversation with his mother who apparently did her own walk of shame type of entrance today. Martha gripped the coffee mug as if it was her lifeline. Castle couldn't blame her. If she had attempted to keep up to her twenty-something-year-old acting students, she must have had a rough night.

"Good morning, mother" he said, sounding too cheerful for Martha's throbbing headache.

"Oh kiddo, can you at least try to talk in a lower register? And maybe not so loudly, too? It would be greatly appreciated" Martha groans, taking another sip of her coffee. Kate just smiled. Castle had a weird feeling he had interrupted an interesting conversation with his appearance. He shrugged it off. She was allowed to have secrets after all.

"Who's up for some omelette?" Castle asked, cheerfully but Kate shook her head. Martha shot him a look that says '_Do I look like I can eat at the moment?_' and he gave up. Food on the go it was, then.

"I'll get dressed and we grab some breakfast in our usual bakery?" Kate asked and looked at Castle.

"Sure" he replied, knowing that as soon as Kate is off to the bedroom, his mother would bombard him with questions. Despite her excessive use of alcoholic beverages.

"So, Richard, do you mind telling me why she isn't actually _wearing_ the ring?"

* * *

_"I can't always be the one holding back, Kate. You will have to allow me in. I can't always think that I might scare you off with my ideas or plans. I wanna be able to be mad at you at times because you sure can drive me insane. But I don't want you to run away, Kate. Not from me. I need to make sure that even if you did, I would follow eventually. You just can't block me and think it is alright to do so anymore. I am more than a partner. We both know that now. Lanie did, Ryan and Esposito do. From what I gather, your dad does, too. My mother and Alexis adore you and Gates ..."_ _Castle said._

_"... is Gates." she finished his sentence._

_"Exactly."  
_

* * *

"She'll put it on whenever she is ready, mother. I won't push her but I will push her" he added.

Martha looked at him quizzically.

"That's between her and me, mother."

"Okay, kiddo" she said, slowly getting off the stool "I will have to find a way to ease my headache now"

"Try painkillers" he said sarcastically.

"Sure will" she shouted, ascending the stairs.

Castle poured himself a coffee and waited for Kate to reappear. She did so only a couple of minutes later and after they finished their morning coffees, they were on their way to the 12th.

* * *

They arrived at the precinct at about 8.30 am because Castle insisted on buying her a bear claw in a tiny bakery around the corner. Kevin Ryan was already occupying his desk, drowning deeply in the confession of their latest suspect.

Ryan looked up when Kate sat down in her chair, keeping her usual working composure. Ryan noticed that she wasn't acting all tense as before. He took it as a good sign that she was accompanied by Castle on a boring paperwork day.

"Hey Beckett" Ryan said, acknowledging her presence.

"Hey Ryan, umm. Where's Esposito?"

"Um, he is ... umm ... running late. Should be here any minute."

Castle and Kate looked at each other and simultaneously mumbled "Lanie"

Whatever it was that changed Beckett's mood, Ryan was thankful for it. He still felt she owed them an explanation for her unusual behavior before. He stood up and came up to her desk, facing bot her and Castle.

"Do you mind telling me what is going on?"

* * *

**A/N: I loved the idea to include Royce in here. I thought the foreshadowing in 3x22 was brilliant. I always assumed he was lacking "realness" in his life and wanted her to make the right decisions. Smart man, that Royce.  
Let me know if you want more. Javier and Lanie next. Oh and probably Gates - she must be confused that Kate showed up for work, right? **

**If you find the time, I'd love a review. I like to read what you guys have to say about this :-) Cheers! xoxo**


	6. Some S'plaining

**A/N: Sorry for the delay here. I had to watch some Ryan / Espo and Lanie scenes to get a feel for them. I wanted them to be authentic. I hope I do them justice. Let me know in a review? :)**

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Some S'plainng**

_"Hey Beckett" Ryan said, acknowledging her presence._

_"Hey Ryan, umm. Where's Esposito?"_

_"Um, he is ... umm ... running late. Should be here any minute."_

_Castle and Kate looked at each other and simultaneously mumbled "Lanie"_

_Whatever it was that changed Beckett's mood, Ryan was thankful for it. He still felt she owed them an explanation for her unusual behavior before. He stood up and came up to her desk, facing bot her and Castle._

_"Do you mind telling me what is going on?"  
_

* * *

"Yeah, Ryan, I think I owe you guys an explanation but do you mind waiting for Esposito?"

Castle just nodded, wearing a boyish smile on his face. Ryan wasn't able to pinpoint what it was about him but Castle emanated satisfaction and a serenity Ryan hadn't seen in quite a while. He remembered the Friday afternoon Kate had ventured off with her then unknown boyfriend. He'd been suspicious it could have been Castle. The two situations surely felt similar. Some time in the future he would find out. Ryan resolved to observe them closely.

The elevator doors opened and in came Detective Javier Esposito, looking a bit disheveled, tucking his shirt into his pants as he went.

Beckett's and Castle's eyebrows shot up simultaneously. Ryan just looked incredulous.

"Um, s'up?" Esposito stuttered, feeling everyone's piercing glances upon him.

"Hey Espo" Kate burst out and grinned "How was your night?"

"Um, alright ... um ... thanks?"

"I hate to be the one killing the mood..." Castle interjected, suddenly all serious.

"You're right, Castle." Kate said and gestured Ryan and Esposito toward the break room. The Irish and the Latino went ahead, exchanging a 'Dude, what's going on' look as they went.

"I'll be quick" she mumbled, quickly caressing his cheek.

"You better be" he said and sat down on his usual chair, pulling out his iPhone. There was this adventure game he had itched to check out for days now. 'Might as well do it now' he thought and focussed on his smart phone.

* * *

"So, what's goin' Beckett?" Esposito asked as soon as Kate managed to close the break room door.

"Yeah, Beckett what's going on" pressed Ryan, fidgeting with the handle of his coffee-filled cup.

"Guys..."

Both detectives looked at her, interested to learn the reason behind Beckett's recent mood swings and her apparently tense relationship with Castle in the last couple of weeks, starting with the Vaughn case.

"I was offered a job with an intelligence agency in Washington D.C."

Kate Beckett might as well have dropped a bomb into the 12th's break room. She looked into the faces of her co-workers, their mouths agape, trying to comprehend the news.

Ryan was the first to find his voice again.

"So, you're going?" he croaked out.

"No, I'm not."

"Whoa, wait a second" Esposito, who was finally able to speak again, cut in "You're actually telling us you were offered a 'once in a lifetime' job opportunity and you actually ... declined? Are you out of your mind?"

Kate knew Esposito wasn't really accusing her of being stupid. She knew him better than that. Esposito always acted like a big brother around her and was protective whenever he got the chance. He would comfort her - she shuddered thinking about their talk during the latest emergence of 3XK - and correct her if he felt he needed to. Now he felt like correcting her. Much.

"Slow down, Espo" she laughed "It's been rough the last couple of weeks, I'll give you that."

"Oh we could tell that much" said Ryan sympathetically "What made you change your mind? I guess the job must have been appealing?"

"Very" she sighed and fetches a cup to pour herself some coffee.

"So...?"

"So ... I stood back there in the interrogation room with the suspect and I told him that this was my home. This room right over there is where I am brilliant, this work that I do is my work. It's what I do. It's what I'm good at. With all of you" Kate gestures around the adjacent room, indicating the working detectives, papers rustling, the soft underlying humming of voices tangled with the noises of telephones and keyboards being used.

"It is not just me who'd deserve a better position, most of us would. I am good at what I do, it satisfies me but I wouldn't ever underestimate your contribution. Besides..."

"Besides?" asked Esposito.

"Besides I would have lost my partner. And I can't have that."

* * *

Castle was not sitting on his usual chair beside Kate's desk when she, Ryan and Esposito re-entered the bullpen. Kate found a note on her computer screen that said:

_'Paperwork is boring. _  
_I've gone out to deliver some entertainment to you later. _  
_Rick. __PS. I'm glad we agreed on YOU seeing Lanie alone.'_

Kate smiled and looked at the pile of paperwork on her desk. She contemplated beginning the dreaded work or heading off to Lanie first. Ryan caught her glance and offered to take his share of the pile. She smiled at the Irish detective, mouthed a 'thank you', grabbed her jacket and left. All under Gates' suspicious eyes.

Victoria Gates had been mildly surprised to see Detective Beckett arriving to work today. After she had received the call that one of her finest detectives had been shortlisted for the position with the attorney general she has assumed that Detective Beckett just closed her last case with the 12th precinct and would see her to tell her she had accepted. But so far, none of that happened.

Victoria Gates' telephone started to ring.

* * *

Kate stopped her car in front of the building in which her good friend Lanie Parish worked as an Medical Examiner. Kate knew that Lanie would be surprised by yet another unexpected visit but she had to come clean with her. Their last talk had gotten interrupted by Castle's call and Kate remembered that Lanie had wanted to give her some advice. Kate smiled 'I wonder how she likes the way we solved things on our own'.

"Hey Lanie!"

"Heeyy ... I have to say, I'm surprised. What brings you here two times in a row?" Lanie's brows furrowed. "Don't tell me you guys broke up over that stupid job, because Kate if you did this then this is beyond ..."

"LANIE!" Kate cut her off and gestures her to drop her instruments.

"What?" Lanie answered, confused.

"Put away your instruments for a second and come over here"

The M.E. obeyed and put away the scalpel she was holding. She quickly scribbled a note on her clipboard and switched off the recording device that helped her collecting her thoughts during autopsies. She took off her medical gloves, quickly washed her hands and sanitized them and closed the distance to Kate who was already sitting close to one of the unoccupied autopsy beds.

"You're confusing me, girl." Lanie said, genuinely not understanding Kate's second visit to her morgue in such a short amount of time.

"I didn't take the job"

Lanie's eyes widened "But sweetie, you said it was a very good opportunity? What happened?"

Kate slowly moved her hand up to her necklace and resurfaced the necklace which was hidden beneath her shirt before.

"This happened."

Lanie gulped and couldn't look away from the glistening diamond that managed to shine even in the dark corners of Lanie's morgue.

"No he _DIDN'T_!"

"Yeah, yeah, he did" Kate couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.

"Oh wow, Kate, I have absolutely no idea what to say!"

"That's a first then, Lanie" Kate chuckled and gently rubbed the M.E.'s arm.

* * *

**A/N: I know this is kind of short but there will be more Lanie/Beckett talk in the next chapter, I promise. It seemed best to divide it here so please don't be too mad at me :* I will make up to you with a faster update this time, alright?**  
**Write me a review, doods? Don't make me beg! ;)**


	7. More to the Story

**A/N: This is where things are gonna get interesting because I will start with actual casework.  
Thank you for the reviews and messages I've received. I've added some fixes to each chapter of the story which hopefully improve it further. If you have any suggestion (story-wise) please do not hesitate to send a PM my way. Also if you want to remark on any grammatical or semantical error I might have made, be gentle and suggest a fix if you like. I won't be offended, I take your guys' ideas and suggestions seriously.**

**Again, thanks to WriterLeigh's contribution to it ('I get it before everyone else does!') and her beta-ing. xoxo**

**We're gonna start with Lanie and Kate talking some more. Enjoy, lovely doodazoids! Because we make Mondays matter ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - More to the Story**

_Kate slowly moved her hand up to her necklace and resurfaced the necklace which was hidden beneath her shirt before._

_"This happened."_

_Lanie gulped and couldn't look away from the glistening diamond that managed to shine even in the dark corners of Lanie's morgue._

_"No he DIDN'T!"_

_"Yeah, yeah, he did" Kate couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips._

_"Oh wow, Kate, I have absolutely no idea what to say!"_

_"That's a first then, Lanie" Kate chuckled, and gently rubbed the M.E.'s arm._

* * *

"I can't believe he actually did that. Didn't he mention that marriage was some sort of eternal doom, mere months ago? What's gotten into him?" Lanie asks, as soon as she's had some time to digest the new information Kate had shared with her.

"Not that I particularly mind" she added, taking in Kate's expression, "I've been your biggest cheerleader right from the start."

"You could be right about that" Kate smiled.

"So...?"

"He's had the ring for quite some time now, Lanie. He told me he bought it two months ago, right after his birthday. He just didn't know if it was what I really wanted. Like I told you, we never talked about these things before..."

"... hah, but see, Kate, it's good that you did!" Lanie beamed.

"I was so scared, Lanie. I thought he was gonna break up with me ..."

"Oh no, girl. He would never have done that. Jeez, Kate, do you ever realize how writer-boy looks at you? This man is deeply devoted to you. He would never leave you."

"Yeah, but Lanie..."

"You of all people, Kate Beckett, _YOU_ wanted him to make a move. You had both your feet _inside_ the door for once and you didn't want to leave. Normally, you run off around this time, don't you? So why didn't you? Just because he proposed?"

"No, Lanie, _NO_, it was not like that!"

"So, what _was_ it like?"

Kate laid everything on the table for Lanie, not holding anything back. How she had talked to her father, how he had commented she'd always run off around this time. How she had seen a different future for herself that had slowly crept into her thoughts until it dominated her thoughts when it was time to accept or decline the job offer. How Castle wouldn't let her interrupt him on the swing set and how he had slowly gotten down on one knee and asked her. By the time she got there, Lanie let out a delighted squeal.

"Shhh, Lanie" said Kate and blushed.

"Oh come on, girl, I always wanted you guys to hook up. Now, don't deny me the fun and admit that I was right all along." Lanie says, gets up from her chair and pulls Kate into a tight hug.

"I am so happy for you guys. Did you tell the boys already?"

"Umm, it is not _that_ official yet..."

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"

"It'll be official when I stop wearing the ring around my necklace but on my finger. I secretly tried it, Lanie, it is a perfect fit. Either this man is a genius in estimating my ring size..."

"... or he measured your fingers when you were sleeping" Lanie chuckled "it would be scary but sweet at the same time. He's always had that weird and creepy side. But seriously, Kate, what's keeping you?"

"I have no idea, Lanie."

With that, Kate unclasped the lock of her necklace, pulled it forward and let it hover over the table. She took a long look at the engagement ring, detached it from the necklace and slowly put it down on the table. After re-arranging her necklace and burying it under the soft linen fabric of her shirt, she looked at Lanie's expectant face.

"You want me to put it on, right?"

"Oh, yes, please!"

Kate slowly lifted the ring and sighed. Just as slowly, she slid it on her ring finger and watched it sit there. She didn't register the 'awwww' and sqealing noises Lanie made at the sight of the engagement ring actually put on Kate's finger. Kate's vision blurred and she was surprised to find her eyes well over with tears of joy. She quickly tried to blink the tears away, but a particularly stubborn one forced her way down her left cheek.

"It's beautiful Sweetie" Lanie said "but if you don't wanna come clean with everybody all at once, I suggest you hide it on your necklace until you're ready. At least at work."

Kate nodded but hesitated to put the ring back. It looked good where it was. It felt good, too.

"And Kate?" Lanie added, taking in Kate's undecided expression "You might wanna go ahead and tell Esposito and Ryan rather early. Or these two are gonna do their investigation thing again, as they did when they wanted to uncover your secret boyfriend."

Kate grinned at the memory. "You're completely right. But you know what? I might as well have a little fun with them!"

Kate pulled out her phone and started to call Castle's number.

* * *

_**In a small café on Hudson Street, just around the corner of Broome Street, a tall, athletic woman sat at a table, a cappuccino in front of her. She looked deep in thought but it was all facade. In reality, the woman studied the people around her.**_

**_The white-haired couple across the room who argued about money the wife had put towards their grandchild's college education while the husband thought it was a waste of money._**

**_The attractive blonde woman at the counter who was twirling a strand of her honey blonde hair around the finger while the barista prepared her coffee, a grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla. 'A weird combo' thought the mysterious woman and let her eyes wander to the last occupied seat, a business man, apparently on his break. He was dressed in a classic suit and tie attire and looked rather bored. His Blackberry in hand he cursed. 'Seems like lunch time is over' thought the woman and drew small circles on her napkin with her index finger._**

_**She was supposed to meet him here. He was supposed to be here at 11 am sharp.**_

_**Her telephone buzzed to indicate a new text message. She flips the cheap burner phone over and reads:  
'Preparation complete. Need to re-schedule. Call follows. Close up on target. 395.'**  
_

_**She sighed. Yet, another delay to their plan wasn't as bad, either. It would give her more time to gather all the necessary **_**_information they needed to go through with the plan. In the long run, all their efforts would surely pay off. The woman drank the last sips of her cappuccino in snatches and left the café, the burner phone in her hand. He would call soon to re-schedule. They would do this. All they needed was the right timing._**

* * *

A little later Castle balanced five bags of takeaway food in one hand and a big blue bag from AC Gears in the other when he waltzed back into the precinct, almost knocking Karpowski out of the way.

"Sorry" he mouthed and twirled around just to get a glimpse of Karpowski's shaking head as she disappeared around the corner. Obviously, the female detective partially just ignored Castle's goofiness and moved on.

Castle approached Kate's desk only to find it vacant. He assumed she was still at the morgue with Lanie and had his suspicions confirmed by a sympathetic Ryan, who rightly spotted Castle's 'lost puppy' attitude.

"She's still down there, Castle."

"Yeah, I know, she called me."

Ryan eyed the takeaway bags and added "What's all that?"

"A special treat for a special team" Castle smirked.

"Perfect, I had an early start. I'm actually starving" said Esposito, who had come back from evidence storage.

"Yeah, we could tell you had that 'sito" Castle said with a smirk.

Ryan added: "Yeah, being late, barely wearing your pants correctly, where is that an early start, man?"

"Seriously, guys, you want me to...?"

"Ewwww"

"Ewww, no" Castle made a 'oh please, no' face.

"All I'm saying is this ... no comment!" Esposito tried to draw the attention to Castle "And with Beckett gone, Castle, details ... we want details..."

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Castle, may I have a word?"

* * *

**A/N: Can you already tell, who cuts in here? ;-)**

**Just to clarify, the parts in _ITALICS_ and _BOLD_ are inserts of the same person throughout the next chapters. If you have a feeling who this mysterious person might be, PM me so that people can still speculate ;-)**

**I am already planning out the next chapter, this is a good exercise and a perfect break from studying. Thanks and see you soon, doods!  
Oh and if you're into an AU fic, you should give "The Nanny" by CassieBones a read ;) Hush hush, go over there!**


	8. For what it's worth

**A/N: This chapter wouldn't let me sleep. At all. So I had to work on it until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks to WriterLeigh for being my beta and 0sunny0 for the first guess concerning the mystery woman's identity. Nope, it's not who you think it is. Keep guessing ;-)**

**This chapter is for LivWilder whose stories I adore and who seriously should write for Castle. Go over and give them a read, she really is a terrific writer in my opinion. 'nuff said! Enjoy, lovely humanoids!**

* * *

**Chapter 8 - For what it's worth**

_"All I'm saying is this ... no comment!" Esposito tried to draw the attention to Castle "And with Beckett gone, Castle, details ... we want details..."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Mr. Castle, may I have a word?"_

* * *

Castle tried to hide his agonized expression from Gates as he turned and dropped the big blue AC Gears bag beside Kate's chair. She might scold him later for clattering her office area but he didn't care. All he could think about was the fact that Victoria 'Iron' Gates had just called him into his office. It was never a complete pleasure when she wanted to have a word with anyone.

Ryan quickly snatched the takeaway bags out of his hand and hurried into the break room, followed by Esposito who indeed looked rather hungry. '_I wonder if they leave anything for me_' Castle thought but quickly concentrated on the Captain's face.

"You might wonder why I asked you to come into my office, Mr. Castle" she said, closed the door behind him and offered him the visitor's chair.

"Umm" said Castle, unaware of any recent misdeeds he might have committed.

"I take this as a 'yes' then" she continued as Castle slightly shrugged his shoulders.

"I must admit, I am at a loss here, Captain."

"I take it, Detective Beckett is not moving to Washington?"

"No Sir, but Sir, shouldn't you be discussing this with..."

"Her? Yes, I plan on doing that, Mr. Castle. I called you in for a different matter, all together."

"And what would that be, Captain?"

"I've given it a lot of thought and especially after Jerry Tyson '_magically_' resurfaced earlier this year and you stormed off to Paris a little later, I think it best if you got a license to carry firearms and some parts of combat training" Gates explained. "I know you've signed that the NYPD cannot be sued for anything you do on actual fieldwork, but I rather have you equipped with some useful skills than ... anything else."

"Captain, I'm touched" Castle joked "You really don't want me to get hurt, do you?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Mr. Castle" she countered and nodded over to Beckett's desk, which was now occupied by a slightly annoyed Beckett who held up a blue bag that suspiciously looked like it held some of his new gadgets.

"You're saying...?"

"I'm saying I want you to do this for her. A great job is difficult to come by, Mr. Castle. It really is, especially if you're a woman. It is sad, but it's still rather frustrating out there sometimes. But I have to say, someone like you is impossible to find. I'm glad she didn't let you get away."

"Someone '_like me_', Captain?"

"Well, she must see something in you that I don't see. But since I trust _her_ judgement, you're worth a lot more than you think."

"Umm, well, thanks." Castle answered, unsure about his next move.

"And Mr. Castle?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"While we're on neutral ground, don't let this one get away."

"Not planning on it."

* * *

**_She slipped into her apartment and squeezed the door shut.  
After she had left the little café on the corner of Broome and Hudson, she headed for Canal Street Station._**

**_The walking did not bother her. She was used to it, she wouldn't have it any other way, really. After all, she needed to stay in shape. She pinned a strand of her hair back with a bobby pin and quickly looked into a display window to check her appearance. _**

**_She wore inconspicuous clothes, black jeans, a grey shirt and a maroon colored leather jacket. Nothing you'd remember in an official lineup. 'Exactly what this is about' she thought. 'No one is going to notice me, looking just like the average.' She hummed appreciatively. Maybe a little cuter than the average._**

**_Her burner cell buzzed with an incoming call just as she had reached the entrance for Canal Street Metro Station._**

**_"Yes?"_**

**_"It's me" a male voice said._**

**_She involuntarily shuddered. The voice radiated power, success, knowledge, experience. Something in it made her stomach clench in anticipation and fear._**

**_"Why the hold-up?" she asked._**

**_"I've decided I want to have just a little more fun with this" he answered. _**

**_She shuddered again. She was playing a dangerous game here. She was painfully aware of that. He pulled all the strings, she was just a puppet.  
_**

* * *

"What was that all about?" Kate Beckett asked as Castle escaped from Gates' office.

"Later" Castle mumbled and her eyebrows shot up "Hey, I promise, no secrets. I would just love to talk about this in private, at home."

She sure liked the sound of 'home', when he said it, it had a certain ring to it that said '_you're never ever wanna leave because you love it_'.

"Wanna grab some food?" Castle asked her "I've last seen it with Esposito and Ryan, there should be some of it left in the break room."

"Sure" she said, absentmindedly, "but would you mind telling me what _this_ is?"

Kate held up the big blue bag he had partially shoved under her table. He grinned.

"That's the entertainment I said I was gonna provide."

Kate just rolled her eyes and followed him to the break room, shoving the blue bag into his hand as she did. Ryan and Esposito had already eaten their way through Castle's assortment of takeaway food. Esposito just stuffed some sushi into his mouth and said with his mouth full "therf sahm leffdd eff ju wan' sam"

"Um, yeah, thanks" chuckled Castle and put the bag on the table. The boys' eyes lit up with excitement. Naturally, they would know what kind of store Castle went to and they recognized the bag at once.

"Any good stuff there, Castle?" asked Ryan and grabbed the container of Mushu Pork to pour himself some of it on his plate.

"You tell me" answered Castle and got busy with the content of his bag. He fetched the first item and held it up in front of Esposito. "This lovely item must have been made just for you" Castle exclaimed happily.

"What's that?" inquired Esposito.

Castle handed him the item and Esposito read aloud: "Topland Etiquette Checker?"

Kate fought down a chuckle.

"Our new exclusive Topland Etiquette Breath Checker is a nimble breathalyzer that will check for any sign of bad breath, as well as for alcohol level in your breath. Simply set the right mode and go "Ah" and wait for the results in seconds. The device rates bad breath through a six digit criteria that can be viewed beside the screen... that's mean, bro!"

"Ah just you wait, it gets better" Castle happily said and rummaged around in the bag for the second goodie and handed it to Detective Kevin Ryan.

"I couldn't help but notice that you were into different 'how to tie a tie' - do's so I figured this might be something you enjoy."

"Aww, man, this is cool" Ryan beamed and held up the rose colored tie with a black vinyl record print on it.

"And" Castle said "if Jenny and you ever get into these disgusting looking green juices again, here's just the perfect container for it, a blue and a red one, to keep them apart"

With that, Castle handed Ryan two colorful reusable cans. Ryan still beamed. Kate's face fell slightly. Castle had closed the bag and not fetched anything for her.

"Yo, Castle..." Esposito cut in.

"Yeah, 'sito?"

"Come on, you didn't bring Beckett any cool stuff? What's wrong with you, man?"

Castle snorted. Who did Esposito think he was? A dabbler? Yeah ... no. Castle dug deep in the bag to get out a blue, black and white thing that looked like a plush toy.

"Umm, Castle, I appreciate the effort but what is _that_?" asked Beckett between two bites.

"It's a playground plushie. And he is called "Cappy the Capacitor. Isn't he cute?"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts, you guys! :) Yes, the plot is thickening but not too fast. Remember, this has to be at least 50.000 to count for the Unofficial Castle Hiatus Fic-A-Thon ;-) We're getting there ... whoever has a suggestion who the mystery lady might be, PM me ;) ****We're slowly approaching interesting things, so stay tuned**

**For Esposito's gadget: **ACGEARS home-office/health-and-beauty/topland-etiquette-ch ecker

**For Ryan's tie:** ACGEARS lifestyle/men-s-accessories/vinyl-record-necktie  
**For Ryan's and Jenny's gadget:** ACGEARS home-office/smart-living/my-eco-can

**For Beckett's plushie**: ACGEARS lifestyle/toys/cappy-the-capacitor-circuit-playgro und-plushie


	9. A Deep Ocean of Secrets

**A/N: Uhhhh, some are getting close to who the mystery - now - people could be. I am not telling just yet. It's one way of making you click on all the upcoming chapters. I am evil like that. I have no shame :P  
Thanks to WriterLeigh's advance reading + advice - we make Mondays matter and the hiatus bearable, don't you ever forget that ;-) I seem to always forget the disclaimer, so Andrew Marlowe, I just take your characters out to play, yeah? Just that ...  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9 - A Deep Ocean of Secrets**

_"Come on, you didn't bring Beckett any cool stuff? What's wrong with you, man?"_

_Castle snorted. Who did Esposito think he was? A dabbler? Yeah ... no. Castle dug deep in the bag to get out a blue, black and white thing that looked like a plush toy._

_"Umm, Castle, I appreciate the effort but what is that?" asked Beckett between two bites._

_"It's a playground plushie. And he is called "Cappy the Capacitor. Isn't he cute?"_

* * *

**_She allowed herself a little relaxation on the bed after she had returned home. She wanted to calm down her running thoughts but they kept running. Was she actually getting second thoughts now? Wasn't it a little bit too late for that?_**

**_She kicked off her boots and tucked her legs up. Her spartanly decorated small apartment didn't look too appealing. She could easily afford a better, more suitable home. The neighborhood wasn't too nice, either. It suited her low-key lifestyle, though. She needed to fly under the radar. No one was allowed to suspect her._**

**_Her glance wandered over to the white board at the opposite wall which was illuminated by lamps on both sides. Blue magnets held several items in place. Among them a map of New York City, several photos, some of them close-ups of two different people, sometimes alone, sometimes together. The metro timetable of selected routes dangled from a magnet that was placed low on the white board. _**

**_Her apartment hadn't seen a member of the cleaning service (which wasn't all too good to begin with) or the janitor. She fixed all electrical calamities or the internet herself. Her burner phone was charging and lay on her bedside table. Her 'official' phone lay beside it, already charged for work. She had the late shift today and needed to get ready.  
_**

**_She swung her legs off the bed and went into the small bathroom. She looked in the mirror with wary eyes. 'It is what I need to do. I cannot give up now. Not when I am so close to ending it all.' _****_She splashed some water into her face to wake her up. She needed to be focussed at work. After all, she liked her work and was dependent on it. In so many ways. It had started. A storm had come._**

* * *

The door to the break room opened with an audible bang and Karpowski entered the room.

"Sorry to interrupt your lunch party, guys, but we have a body!"

They needed to wrap up their lunch and get to work. Karpowski volunteered to collect the leftovers and to put them into the fridge so that the others could head out to the crime scene. As often, Lanie beat them to the Upper East Side address and welcomed them with a sad smile on her face.

"It's a bad one. Whatever you had planned during the next week, or even weeks, it has to wait."

Kate raised an eyebrow. Whenever Lanie warned them before they actually saw the body, it really must be something. Either an interesting location, an unusual method of killing or any other anomaly that made it special. Castle and Kate had actually discussed a short vacation to his Hampton's house to get away from the smell of the city and to leave some of the recent events behind. Since Kate hadn't requested her vacation yet, it didn't press. 'Deadly Heat' was finished, the cover was chosen and it was currently being proof-read. Only the body might mean a change of plans.

From what they could tell, the victim had some money or her parents had. The apartment wasn't over the top but Castle could tell that a lot of the furniture and decor leaned more to the expensive and extravagant side. Still, the place had a young flair to it.

Lanie gestured them on into the living room.

Sprawled on the couch lay a woman, face-down, her red hair incrusted with dried blood. She wore a dark blue silk blouse, torn in the back. The holes showed some small gashes on her back, formed as what looked like symbols or numbers. Kate knelt down beside the sofa, careful not to destroy any evidence the CSU team had marked around the body.

"Hey Tanner" Castle called one of the CSU members who then approached them.

"Yeah, Castle, what's up?"

"Did you notice the envelope under the couch?"

Tanner hadn't and Kate got up to let him take pictures and mark the spot. After he was done, Beckett continued to observe the victim more closely. Her neck was bruised, her right wrist was slightly bruised, too.

"She must have tried to defend herself" Castle remarked and pointed at the victim's wrist.

"Yeah, probably." Kate answered.

Ryan and Esposito, who had spoken to uniforms returned to the crime scene.

"Yo, the victim is Carol Jennings, 26-years old. She recently graduated from NYU. Her dad is an associate in a known law-firm, Fitch, Parker and Jennings." Esposito listed the information he had gathered.

"Her parents are divorced, mommy, too, has made quite the money after the nasty divorce she's had. She became big with a cosmetic line and a spa concept she developed herself." Ryan added and Castle wiggled his eyebrows.

"A spa concept? I like where this is going ..."

"Um, yeah, Castle" Ryan cut in "you're probably forgetting her child is dead."

"Um, right, sorry. Carry on."

It was Esposito's turn again. "According to the cleaning lady, Mrs. Espinoza over there" he pointed at a slightly corpulent Hispanic woman who sat on a bench in the hall "she wasn't supposed to be home today. Mrs. Espinoza generally just came when Miss Jennings was out. They had a schedule. According to that, Miss Jennings should have been at the gym from 8am - 11am. Mrs. Espinoza found her around 10.30am."

"Alright, you guys see if anyone noticed her here or at the gym today. If she didn't go to her usual gym this morning, I want you to check her credit card to see if there is any evidence for her activity this morning. You might wanna check for anything that pops" Kate assigned the task to Esposito and Ryan who quickly resumed talking to uniforms and from the corner of her eye Kate noticed Esposito calming and comforting poor Mrs. Espinoza.

"So Lanie, what have we got?" Kate let out her usual question for the M.E..

"Yeah, what have _YOU_ got" she beamed at them and Castle quickly put on his '_what did I do_' - face.

"Lanie..." Kate shook her head.

"Alright, alright..."

The M.E. looked at her clipboard where she had scribbled her notes.

"Well, from what I can see here, she sustained a blunt force trauma to her head that knocked her on the sofa. That, however wasn't how she was killed. Surely you noticed the bruises around her neck?" Lanie pointed a blue-gloved index finger toward the victim's neck and put aside a strand of her red hair to make the marks even more visible.

"She was strangled?" Castle suspected.

"With some force I might add" Lanie said "the marks are quite prominent. She didn't lie here for too long before she was found, I'd say she was killed around 9am this morning. As always, I will know more as soon as I have her in my morgue."

"Okay"

"You obviously noticed her blouse being torn. It's no new fashion style, we can assume it was done by the person that murdered her. The blood is fairly fresh but CSU has done some photographs of the wounds that should give you first ideas as to what they are. It looks like some numbers but they were carved in a hurry."

"As if the murderer knew he could be disturbed any minute?" asked Castle

"Your guess is as good as mine here, Castle"

Castle nodded, obviously satisfied with his combination skills.

"There is one thing you wanna take a closer look at" Lanie highlighted "at first I didn't see it but once CSU was done with a first sweep of the crime scene, I slightly turned her and found this..."

Lanie carefully removed the victim's left hand which was still slightly buried under her torso to show another particularity.

Castle gasped in shock.

The victim was lacking a finger. A ring finger.**  
**

* * *

**A/N: I wanna address two of the reviews I've gotten. I agree, in my mind, too, Kate shouldn't be too chicken about the engagement and put that ring on. But we're on day one after Rick proposed to her. If it took them four years to get together, how could anyone assume she'd wear that ring from the start and be open about it? ;-)**

**The second one, ummm, okay, you seem to be the only one who is not able to understand the story. So far, no one else complained? I am at a loss here ;-) See if this chapter does it for you and if not, feel free to read other stories. There are plenty out there ;)**

**So, my first crime scene, huh? Did I do it justice? Let me know in a review or message if you like :) ...**


	10. You Are Cordially Invited

**A/N: I don't own Castle. Blah Blah. You know?  
For all else I am gonna quote Marlowe and say "just you wait" ;-)**

**Beta: WriterLeigh**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - You are cordially invited **

_"There is one thing you wanna take a closer look at" Lanie highlighted "at first I didn't see it but once CSU was done with a first sweep of the crime scene, I slightly turned her and found this..."_

_Lanie carefully removed the victim's left hand which was still slightly buried under her torso to show another particularity._

_Castle gasped in shock._

_The victim was lacking a finger. A ring finger._

* * *

The ride back to the precinct was silent again. It seemed to be the slogan of the past few days. Silence. Again, Kate and Castle had a lot to digest, although this time it was about their latest case. CSU and uniforms were still busy with the victim's apartment and all the evidence they had collected to date was processed and transferred as soon as possible.

As soon as they elevator came to a halt at their floor and the soft "ding" indicated that the doors would be opening soon, Castle let go of Kate's hand and sighed.

"Don't worry Castle, tonight we're on 'neutral ground' again."

"Does this mean I get to touch you tonight?" He joked.

"Maybe, if you're lucky..."

"Oh, detective, I always am..."

Karpowski saw them entering the bullpen and quickly came by Kate's desk, before she could even take off her jacket.

"Bad one?" the curly-haired detective asked.

"We shall see about that" Kate responded "You got anything for us, yet?"

"So far nothing you could work with. Normal work / leisure time balance if you ask me. Miss Jennings interned with the company her mother built from scratch. She had a pretty tight schedule when you count her hours in the gym, at the pool or in one of these healthy food classes where they teach you all about shredding your fruit and vegetables to awful looking pulpy mushy stuff and say it's way better than anything else..."

"So nothing pops?" Kate asked to interrupt Karpowski's juice rant.

"Nothing so far, but we'll keep digging."

"Keep me updated."

"Sure will ... oh and Castle?"

"Yeah?" asked Castle absentmindedly. He'd just casually stared at his girlfriend's, somewhat fiancée's ass and was momentarily distracted by the sight.

"The staring is creepy!"

Kate shot him a look that said '_Easy there, tiger_' and Karpowski grinned. Even she had noticed the change in the atmosphere. A change for the better, a light mood in an environment that dealt with the dark parts of life. She'd missed the giddiness. It was good to see it return. Karpowski nodded and went back to her desk to look at more details on Carol Jennings.

* * *

Martha had slept quite well after the painkillers set in. She woke around 1pm and her hyperactive brain was already up and running. With Richard and Katherine gone and Alexis being at her dorm, she had the loft to herself. Here came the party-planning mode! She quickly shimmied out of her lazily thrown-on nightgown and got dressed. Before Alexis went to Costa Rica, they needed to send her off with a celebration. Given the latest events in Paris, it shouldn't be too huge so Martha decided on what she called '_the inner circle_', Richard, Katherine, Alexis and herself.

As she descended the stairs, her head was still slightly pounding so she internally voted against cooking herself. 'Kitchenstorm Martha' could wait for another occasion. Instead, she decided on spontaneously booking a small party service assortment. Maybe one server, too?

The doorbell rang. Martha stopped on her tracks and turned for the entrance door. She looked through the peephole and saw little Freddy, the doorman's son looking at the material of the door at his height. So all she saw was tousled brown her. She chuckled and opened the door.

"Freddy" she exclaimed.

"Good afternoon, Ms Rodgers!" said polite little Freddy.

"What can I do for you, young man?"

"No one had picked up the mail this morning so my daddy asked if I wanted to bring it up" the little boy said.

"And what's in it for you?"

Freddy shrugged his shoulders "Daddy promised me a bar of chocolate..."

"Fair enough" smiled Martha and accepted several envelopes.

"Go tell your daddy I was very pleased with you bringing up the mail" Martha said and Freddy ran of frantically, beaming with pride and excitement.

Martha turned and went back inside. She looked at the mail items, piece by piece. One stood out, a thick cream-white envelope with golden letters at the front simply saying: "_Richard Castle & Katherine Beckett_"

* * *

_**She arrived at work just in time. Even if she didn't use the metro in the rush hour(s) of New York City, sometimes a delay was inevitable. Such as today. When she entered her work place, no one noticed her at first which suited her just fine. Eventually some heads would turn or someone would look up and greet her, but it wasn't as if she was recognized by everyone. It was her secret weapon. Working there for almost six months now without arising suspicion, passing all the background checks with distinction.**_

_**She put her leather jacket on a hook close to her desk and while the computer was starting she went into the small adjacent kitchen to fetch herself a glass of water. When she returned her computer was ready for work and she looked into the metal file holder on her desk that said "inbox" - some work was left from yesterday but the pile itself had gotten larger. **__**With long, sleek fingers she brushed through her almost waist long dark brown hair and cursed when she found a knot. Little things like that drover her crazy.**_

_**She returned her attention to her work and grabbed the first file from the 'yesterday' pile. She turned to her computer screen and began her work. It was what she was paid for, after all.  
**_

* * *

"Where are we with the evidence from the crime scene?" asked Kate and Ryan hurried to her desk.

"It's still being processed, all they sent so far is the envelope castle noticed under the couch. Karpowski should have it on her desk for a first impression."

"Good. We'll look at it later."

"Yeah, don't we have to make sure there is no anthrax on it or something?" Castle interjected.

"Oh Castle, I'm pretty sure that's been taken care of" said Ryan and went back to his notes.

"So far we could not find any irregularities in Carol Jennings' schedule" he went on "she had fixed times at her mother's company and her credit card places her at her usual gym regularly."

Castle hummed.

"What is it, Castle?"

"The missing finger bothers me" answered Castle, looking serious. "Do we have any evidence as to her being engaged or married?"

At the word '_engaged_' he threw a little sideways glance to Kate. She pretended not to notice and looked stoically at Ryan.

"There are no signs of a boyfriend or fiancée" Esposito cut in as he appeared behind Ryan "but check this out, it might only be a small detail but I found a credit card payment that didn't fit in."

He placed a piece of paper on Beckett's desk for all of then to look at.

"'Mancini's coffee & bakery' - she went there last Friday. She had a tall latte special order."

"That's around where I live" Castle said and added quietly. "it's where we order our coffee."

"Alright, you two go to that coffee place and see if any of the employees remember a 26-year old redhead that had a special order" said Kate and looked at Ryan and Esposito. Before the two detectives turned and did what Kate asked them to do, Esposito put a hand on his heart and both mouthed 'we'. They came close to 'ooohhh'ing' and 'aaaahhh'ing' but managed to swallow the sounds that would make.

Beckett who pretended she didn't see their goofiness simply smiled, looking down at her desk.

"Hey Karpowski" called Castle and the detective looked up.

"Do you work on the envelope?"

The detective got up and lifted an evidence bag from her desk, indicating that she had it. She slowly walked around the precinct toward Castle and Beckett who began to set up their usual murder board. Castle pinned Carol Jennings' driver's license picture right under '_victim_'.

"I do, but you're not gonna like this" Karpowski said.

Beckett raised her eyebrows questioningly. Karpowski handed her the evidence bag and Beckett looked at the exquisite golden lettering on the creme-white envelope and gasped.

"_Castle_!"

Castle stopped writing on the murder board and put the marker aside. He turned around and looked down at Kate's slightly shaking hand and the item in it.

"Look at what it says" Kate ordered.

The delicate golden letters said '_Victoria Gates_'.

* * *

**A/N: There might be some spelling or grammatical mistakes since I typed a lot of this chapter on my phone when I was ATP'ing today. If you find mistakes, please point them at me gently.**

**As always, reviews are golden my lovely readers ... xoxo**


	11. Question Marks

**A/N: So everybody is genuinely confused? GOOD. I feel Marlowe-ish. Powerful. There is even more, coming up. You might wanna know that we will see at least three more victims. You'll get the plan behind it. I promise. Uh and more Gates in this chapter, folks!**

**Hey Marlowe, fancy buying my story? I just ask for writer's credit and a set visit. Flight and accommodation. That's all. Oh, of course the characters, settings'n stuff belong to you. Never mind. I like the, so I play with'em. Eh?**

**Beta: WriterLeigh**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Question Marks**

_"Castle!"_

_Castle stopped writing on the murder board and put the marker aside. He turned around and looked down at Kate's slightly shaking hand and the item in it._

_"Look at what it says" Kate ordered._

_The delicate golden letters said 'Victoria Gates'.  
_

* * *

"Now, that is something" Richard Castle said and let his shoulders slump down a little bit. Normally, he would get excited if the murder turned out to be more than a regular 'mugging gone wrong' or a 'Jack killed Bill for Jill' case but this time he was genuinely annoyed. When Lanie predicted that the case looked like a 'bad one' he had internally cursed for he had other plans. Kate had tentatively agreed to insert a quick vacation to his Hampton's house and he had hoped the romantic atmosphere would set the mood right for her to slip the ring on her finger.

As it turned out, murder once again got in their way of a romantic Hampton's getaway.

"Why don't we find out, what the card says?" asked Castle. "Judging by the extravagant exterior of the envelope, it looks like an invitation. Must have cost a little bit. Whoever placed it there must have been aware of us finding it. So this clearly belongs to our case."

"I agree" said Karpowski "I didn't get to read it yet, I wanted to wait for you guys."

Kate zipped the evidence bag open and pulled out the envelope. CSU hat dusted it for fingerprints and the remnants of the powder stuck to the material. No visible fingerprints. Who would have figured? Kate opened the envelope and took out a folded card, the material thick and expensive-looking as the envelope. She flipped the card open. It read:

_You are cordially invited to attend_  
_the beachside wedding ceremony uniting_

_Katherine Houghton Beckett_  
_and_  
_Richard Edgar Castle_

_on June 22nd, 2013 at 3pm._

Below the card listed Castle's Hampton's beach house address. Had there been slight confusion beforehand, where this piece of evidence might lead them, it had multiplied by 10 by the time Kate, Castle and Karpowski finished reading the card. Castle was the first to regain his ability to talk.

"June 22nd? I thought we didn't agree on a date, yet..."

"Castle!" Kate hissed.

"Haha, umm ... just joking" Castle tried to prevent a complete exposure failure by masking his lapse with a somewhat lame gag. Karposwki just shot her eyebrows up but then decided to rather turn into an innocent bystander who had no idea what was going on. After all, it was none of her business.

"Do you remember planning anything at your house this come June, Castle?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Um, no, I can't actually think of anything. But if you wanted to check out party dates, most of the people in the area put them online. I can give you the web address..." Castle noted the web address on a piece of paper and handed it to Karpowski, who quickly retreated. She had the feeling that Kate needed some privacy to scold Castle for slipping. If that was what he had done.

"What was that?" Kate hissed, the moment Karpowski was out of hearing range.

"What was what? Castle put on the most innocent facial expression he was capable of.

"Fine. But you're not off the hook. Now we need to see Gates. She has to see this..."

"What do you wanna tell her?"

"The truth."

"Oh, so you're going to tell her that in our victim's living room, precisely under the couch of our victim's living room lay this expensive looking envelope, addressed to her, with a wedding invitation, not just ANY wedding invitation, but ours? Come on Kate, this is ..."

"Still the truth?"

He looked flabbergasted. It sounded so made up. Badly made up. Still, it was the truth. A cold-hearted killer had carefully placed it there for them to find. A cold-hearted killer, who knew them. It startled him. It even frightened him a little bit.

"You're comin'?" Kate asked, already several steps ahead.

"Yeah, um .. sure."

* * *

**_Her burner phone buzzed with a message. It was kind of dangerous to have it with her at work. Still, in this world so affine to technology people tended to have two, sometimes even three or four phones. It wouldn't be too conspicuous for her to have 'only' two. She took the burner phone out of the leather jacket pocket and flipped it open._**

**_'Did they find the first one? ___****395'**

**____****She couldn't answer just yet. She had to make sure they approached her for help. **

**____****'I wasn't contacted. I'll let you know."  
**

**____****'They will need you soon. 395'  
**

* * *

Kate knocked on the wooden-framed door of Captain Gates' office and after a heartbeat she heard a firm "Come in" from inside.

"Oh, Detective..." the captain looked up and looked at her expectantly.

"Yeah Sir, something has come up and we need to talk to you." Kate said, business-like. Gates' face fell slightly when she became aware of 'not so eligible bachelor number nine' behind the detective. Despite their latest tentative convergence Victoria Gates couldn't help but wonder if she gave the man more credit than he deserved. Castle quietly closed the door and stood next to his girlfriend as she handed her captain the envelope.

"This?" The Captain asked and her eyes peeked out above her glasses as she leaned forward to accept the item. Kate simply gave her the time to flip it open and read the message in the card herself. When Gates was finished, she looked not as confused as one would have expected her to.

"Are congratulations in order?"

"Umm ..."

"Well Sir, _actually_ ..." Castle started

"... _actually_ we find it more interesting that this card was found in an envelope right under our victim, Carol Jennings." Kate finished, happy to find them to be in sync after the last stressful weeks they've had.

Gates' eyebrows shot up.

"Care to explain that to me?" she asked.

"I wish we could, Sir." Castle responded, trying to divert the attention from an all too possible (He hoped. Soon. He hoped.) wedding scenario.

"Now this is sure something" the captain muttered more to herself.

"It looks like the killer placed this envelope there for us to find. It was Castle who spotted it under the couch the victim lay on." Kate explained. "Dr. Parish said she wanted to call us whenever she had anything on the victim, she looked pretty ugly. From the photos the CSU took at the crime scene, we cannot tell for sure, but it looks like she had some numbers ..."

"... carved into her back" Castle finished Kate's description.

"Right. We hope to be able to tell more, whenever Dr. Parish has done the autopsy on the body."

"This case sure promises to be interesting" the captain decided and looked at the detective and her partner. "I would like to speak to detective Beckett in private, Mr. Castle."

They exchanged a look and Castle knew the captain wanted to talk about the decline Kate had given the FBI. He squeezed Kate's hand and left the room. The door fell shut.

"So, detective. This is something I'd normally only do if my son has gotten himself into trouble and I wanna know what happened. So, spill!"

* * *

Ryan and Esposito arrived at 'Mancini's coffee & bakery' and parked their car.

"It really isn't too far from Castle's place, isn't it?" Ryan declared, taking in the neighborhood.

"You mean, Castle and Beckett's place?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, Kev, the two of them are practically living together and whatever happened in the last few weeks, they must have solved it. Did you see them this morning? All lovey-dovey again!" Esposito said.

"Ah, you give them too much credit, Javi. I bet Castle is still mad about this Vaughn guy..."

"You bet - I wouldn't let a douche like him kiss my girl, either!"

"Oh, so you and Lanie are official, like, really official? Does she mind you flirting with that computer techie ... whatever ... investigator that we worked with in the last couple of cases?"

"Tori Ellis? I wasn't flirtin' with Tori!" Esposito contradicted.

"Uh huh" mumbled Ryan and entered the coffee shop. Esposito followed, deep in his thoughts. Had he really been flirting with the tech investigator? Nah, he hadn't. Or had he? He decided to drop the topic for now and resume it later. They were her for a couple of answers and he hoped they would find them The coffee shop / bakery wasn't too crowded, only 50% of the tables occupied. Esposito observed the audience while the Irish detective went to the counter and showed his badge.

"Detectives Ryan and Esposito, NYPD, can we ask you guys a couple of questions?" he quietly said, not to draw attention on them. The young female barista looked at him sheepishly. Ryan bet she didn't expect anything like this ever to happen to her. 'Probably moved here from another state' he thought to himself.

"Uh, sure" she said "what do you wanna know?"

"Were you here last Friday, Miss..."

"Brenneman, Sophie Brenneman, Sir" she whispered.

"And...?"

"Oh, oh, yes I was. Me and my colleague Matt were here the whole day" she gestured to a tall man standing in the back corner of the shop, cleaning shelves.

"Have you seen this woman?" Ryan handed her the picture from Carol Jennings' driver's license. No need to show this already intimidated country girl the photo of the dead and battered Carol Jennings.

"Oh, yeah, yeah she was here last Friday. I remember redheads, there are fewer redheads than blondes or brunettes, did you know that?"

"Um, yeah" answered Ryan. Esposito joined them and listened to the barista's further rambling.

"She came in and had a rather interesting choice of coffee, a grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla. Weird, huh? Anyways, she ordered her coffee, waited for it at the table at the window, paid and left. She didn't do much else."

"Did she talk to anyone?" Esposito asked.

"Not that I noticed." The barista twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers.

"Was there someone that acted strange? Someone who followed her, often looked in her direction...?" Ryan asked.

"Now that you mention it ... yes, yes, there was a man. He sat over there, in the corner. He looked rather unsettling."

"Unsettling? How?"

"I dunno ..." she trailed off. Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look that said 'that's never ever gonna lead to anything' and Esposito let out a small sigh.

"He looked like someone you see and once you see him, you forget him. He blends in. The staring was awkward but I would never be able to give you a description of his looks or somethin' ..."

On the spur of the moment Ryan asked: "Does this place have video surveillance?"

"Yes, yes we have that."

Esposito and Ryan grinned. It was time to call Tori Ellis.

* * *

"What do you want me to say?" Kate stuttered. She knew the captain had her cornered.

"You could start with your refusal of a position with the Attorney General..."

"Yeah, Sir, about that..."

Victoria Gates lifted both her arms to gesture her that it wasn't a big deal.

"You know, detective, I've gotten a call from a quite frustrated commissioner this morning who had the Attorney General in a conference call and they were both so kind to let me participate in their frustration." She shook her head at the memory.

"I've had more pleasant calls than that, detective..."

"I can imagine ... Sir." Kate replied.

"So, why don't you come clean to me as to why you've actually declined? It would have been a truly great possibility for you, Kate."

"I know that Sir, it's just ..."

"You didn't realize you wanted something else more, am I right?" Gates tilted her head towards Beckett's desk where Castle sat. Beckett internally fumed. Naturally, he would sit on her chair as soon as she was gone. Perfect. She focused again.

"I've come to the conclusion that my priorities have changed, yes. You could say that."

"And that wedding invitation..."

Kate let out a rather desperate sounding laugh.

"I truly have no idea what that is about, Sir." Kate hesitated.

"Is that so?"

"Sir?"

"Oh well, you decide when you wanna tell me. I think 'Plausible Deniability' would fly out of the window the exact moment you did, but I'm sure we can think of something else"

Kate exhaled the breath she had held in for the duration of Captain Gates' last two sentences and it felt really good to see the other woman so supportive of her.

"Why don't you go on and brief me as soon as anything new comes along?"

"Consider it done, Sir." Kate got up and turned for the door.

"Oh and Kate?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Congratulations."

* * *

"Lanie called" Castle greeted her with a wide smile which quickly vanished as he registered the look on her face. "Oh, you curse the day you finally allowed me to answer your phone, that's cute."

Kate pretended she didn't hear the last part.

"So, what has she got?"

"Well, the victim was knocked unconscious as we already suspected. The killer carved three numbers into her back and Lanie guesses she awoke from that. When he realized she started to struggle against him, he strangled her. Lanie says the last number was carved into her back post-mortem."

"What numbers are there?"

"9668"

* * *

**A/N: I genuinely hate genitive-s and plural-s and any form of weird grammar. If it doesn't flow, it's usually wrong. That's how I manage. If I do manage to screw up, help me, please :-)**

**So, I take more guesses. Are you now painfully aware who the mystery woman is? What's your verdict? Did you expect it? Or do you need the answer in the next chapter and you didn't have any clue in the first place? Let me know! Cheers, doooooods!**


	12. High Definition

**A/N: You're about to find out who the mystery lady is ...**

Oh, and WriterLeigh didn't read this one as my beta because she needed to write herself. And tomorrow she is going to meet the Devers and I am jealous beyond ... ANYTHING. Graaaaawwww! Anyway ... go on. Marlowe, I know, I don't own 'em.  


* * *

**Chapter 12 - High Definition****  
**

_"Well, the victim was knocked unconscious as we already suspected. The killer carved three numbers into her back and Lanie guesses she awoke from that. When he realized she started to struggle against him, he strangled her. Lanie says the last number was carved into her back post-mortem."_

_"What numbers are there?"_

_"9668"_

* * *

_**She flinched. The phone on her desk rang and **_**_interrupted her work flow. She saved the work on her computer before she reached for the receiver to answer the call._**

**_"Ellis?"_**

**_"Yo, Detective Ellis, this is Detective Esposito. Listen, we're here at a café and would need their surveillance footage analyzed for a suspect" Esposito explained._**

**_"Um, sure. What will I be looking for?" she asked._**

**_"I'll come up and brief you on what we know so far."_**

**_"Roger that" she smiled and after she learned how long her colleagues needed to get the footage to her, she ended the call. She quickly typed a message with her burner phone._**

**_'Was contacted for CCTV footage just now.'_**

_**The answer didn't take long.**_

**_'Good. They found the first one then. We continue as planned. 395'_**

* * *

"I am not too sure if one murder board will do" said Castle and looked helplessly at the white board he had just written on.

"What makes you say that?" asked Kate, taking a sip of a freshly brewed coffee.

"Just a hunch."

"You and your hunches" Kate mocked him "just like your hunch to buy me a plush toy?"

"Hey!" Castle protested

"First of all, he is insanely cute" he lifted the plushie off her table and made it look into her eyes. Kate just looked.

"And second, he is a playground plushie. I thought that kinda ... matched? I should have gotten you indoor swings..."

"Indoor swings?" Kate laughed.

"I've seen it! Kids have it! It looks like fun..."

"Okay" Kate tried calm him down. _'Let's ride out the sugar rush and just wait for it to stop'_ she thought and pointed to the murder board.

"Let's try to establish a timeline, shall we?"

* * *

Martha had decided on a small party service in the neighborhood they had used before. As her son was pretty peculiar about health standards, she made sure the place had gotten straight 'A's in the past. Martha even sacrificed some money for a waiter. She didn't want anyone to work tonight. Apart from packing, that was. Alexis had called earlier and Martha had instructed her to come to the loft for a little celebration that night. Now all she needed was to call her son and Katherine. She dialed and waited for the call to connect.

"Richard? Yes, darling! Whatever it is you and Katherine planned on doing tonight, it has to wait." She listened.

"No ... no ... no, don't interrupt me, I don't take 'no' for an answer. Alexis' trip to Costa Rica requires a proper celebration and she deserves a joyful send-off, don't you think?" She gave him a little time to answer and liked what she heard.

"Yes, just what I thought. Alright, and Katherine needs to be here, too, darling."

She couldn't hep but add: "So don't do something you will regret later, yes? Alright Richard, see you tonight!"

She ended the call and put the phone down. Time to decorate. Maybe even time to take a look at flower decorations. From the corner of her eye she glanced at the mail that came in today. Her curiosity bubbled deep in her stomach. Her whirlwindy mind needed to know who sent what looked like an invitation. Ah, well, Richard would surely open the envelope later.

* * *

Kate looked at him, questioningly.

"My mother" he shrugged.

"And ... what did she want?"

"Apparently she has set her mind on catering a dinner for all of us tonight..."

"You don't think this is because of..."

"Oh! Oh, no, this is not because of you and me. Or of what she assumes to know and ... okay, I'm rambling. Okay. She said she wanted to have a family dinner with all of us before Alexis goes to Costa Rica and I actually think it is a nice idea."

"A _family_ dinner" Kate said, an ironic undertone to her voice.

"What does that mean? Like I told you before, you are my work wife anyways and you belonged to our family for quite some time now. So shake off the irony, detective" he mocked her.

Ryan and Esposito marched into the bullpen, Ryan already pulled out his note pad to report back.

"So, the credit card statement placed Carol at the café in your area, Castle. Two employees confirm that she ordered a coffee, waited until it was done and left ... all that observed by some creepy looking guy in a corner. The barista couldn't describe him all to well, but they gave us their security cam footage from last Friday to have a look at."

"We already called Ellis from tech, she'll analyze the material and help us find the man" Esposito added "so far he's our only lead."

"Where are we on a possible boyfriend / fiancée?" asked Kate.

Ryan turned the page from the notepad over and said: "I fear this leads to nowhere. So far no one recollects seeing her with a boyfriend, the cleaning lady Mrs. Espinoza is sure she never found any remains of ..."

"Sex!" cut Castle in.

"Damn right, bro" said Esposito and held up his fist for a fist bump which Castle reciprocated with joy.

"Okay, Espo, get the footage up to Detective Ellis. Let's see what she can find" ordered Kate. Esposito quickly made his way up to tech. Ryan silently laughed.

"Let us know if she finds anything, Ryan, will you? We ... uh ... have a family dinner to attend tonight and I would actually love to mentally prepare for that" Kate sighed.

"I gotcha" smiled the Irish.

* * *

**_She rhythmically tapped her fingernails on her desk. She was getting impatient again. She needed to see the footage Esposito retrieved from the coffee shop. She had to make sure their plan continued to develop perfectly. And her part was easy. Letting them find their own conclusions while keeping tabs at their results._**

**_She heard a familiar voice calling her "Tori? Detective Ellis?"_**

**_She smiled, turned around in her chair and waved at the entrance area of their floor "I'm here, Detective Esposito, come through."_**

**_He approached her with a DVD and a picture in his hand._**

**_"Normally you'd come down and I was kinda lost" he said. She couldn't help but notice the smile he had for her. 'He is kinda cute' she thought but quickly came to her senses again. This was not about her. She couldn't begin to like any of them. It wasn't a possibility._**

**_"Is that the footage you want me to take a look at?" Detective Ellis asked, nodding at his hand.  
_**

**_"Uh, yes. I have a picture of our victim, Carol Jennings but you should be able to find her easily. I bet not too many redheads were at that café at the same time" Esposito explained._**

**_"That should be fine" she said and smiled at the Latino._**

**_"Alright, you know where to find us, right?" _**

**_"'course" she responded and signaled that she would go to work as soon as possible.  
_**

* * *

Castle and Beckett left the precinct at about 4pm.

Even though it was her that said it, Castle, too, felt that he needed to internally prepare for 'Hurricane' Martha's festivities which tended to get a tad bit out of hand sometimes. As did his. He felt like the part of his brain that dealt with emotions was separated from the rest and sat on a non-stop rollercoaster. He had had it all, stubborn, arrogant, distant, happy, hopeful, devastated, calm, overjoyed, thrilled, lonely, unsure, illogical ... he had thought it would be a good thing to have some time off from the city lights. Now with this case and the mysterious wedding invitations for June 22nd ... something was going on. He wasn't sure yet as to what it was. However, something told him they needed to stop whatever was going on.

Kate's mind was occupied, too. Her conversations with Gates, the rapid turn her life had just made, Lanie, the case ... something about the case felt off for her and it wasn't just because of the wedding invitation the murderer had carefully placed for them to find. She couldn't pinpoint it yet, but the way this case enfolded felt oddly familiar. Someone was playing them and somehow she was unwilling to find out how long the game needed to go on.

"I have the feeling ..." Kate broke the silence "... that this is not the only envelope we will find and that it's not gonna be the last victim we'll find."

"You know, I had the same thought earlier" Castle responded.

"Doesn't it feel familiar to you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Kate who concentrated on the busy traffic, too.

"I know we disagreed on this a few months back, Kate, but this sounds like 3XK to me."

"Yeah, Castle but he is dead."

"That's what you say, Kate. I am still not sure. It was the perfect maneuver for him to start anew. No one would suspect him, unless, he wants to. If he slips, he does it because he wants to. This sure feels like some game he would love to play." Castle said, making his point.

"We put several bullets into his body, Castle, there is no way he survived this..." she trailed off, suddenly unsure.

"You know what?" asked Castle "let's not think about it too much, tonight. Tonight is all about Alexis and how much we love and support her. We can have a fresh start with this, tomorrow."

"I agree" Kate said and pulled into Broome St.

"So, how did it go with Lanie today?" Castle asked casually.

"Oh, y'know..." smiled Kate and stopped.

"Oh come on, you're going to tell me what she said" demanded Castle.

"I am?"

"Vixen!"

"Ah, fine. Lanie was _thrilled_, Castle!" said Kate and parked the car. Castle beamed.

"After all, she was the one that talked sense into me when I couldn't admit I liked you." Kate said, getting out of the car.

"Oh, so we're back to the 'like' again" said Castle pretending to be miffed. Kate shot him a look that said 'we're not having this conversation again, are we?' and he stopped pouting. If anything, he had learned that it was clearly better to back off sometimes. Kate clearly appreciated his effort.

"We're good?"

"We're good."

* * *

_**There he was, on the footage. She could tell it was him, had even looked at old case files to be entirely sure. His disguise was pretty much perfect. He's always had the advantage to blend in, to look familiar but not so familiar that someone could easily describe one.**_

_**Now all she needed to isolate the part of the video and bring it downstairs to the detectives of Kate Beckett's team. Naturally, they would be able to identify him. It would put them on alert, the whole city would be looking for Jerry Tyson in no time.**_

_**She couldn't help but wonder if he needed the thrill for his deeds, if he needed the adrenaline flowing in his system to master the art of his game. The killing game.**_

_**She got up, the freshly burned DVD with the surveillance material clutched in her hand and made her way through the tech department down to the floor on which Kate Beckett's team resided.  
**_

* * *

"Daaaaarlings, you're home early" Martha's piercingly recognizable voice echoed through the loft as soon as Kate and Castle entered it.

"Mother. Always a pleasure" Castle said, a slight sarcastic undertone perceptible in his voice.

"Hi Martha." said Kate, still a little shy around her somewhat mother-in-law.

"Richard, there's plenty of mail from today. It must've come after you left for the precinct" Martha said, her index finger pointing at the counter in the kitchen. "One of them looks pretty fancy, I might add."

Castle and Beckett shot each other a dumbfounded look which quickly turned into horror-stricken and Kate quickly excused herself to the bedroom, rummaging in one of her drawers for evidence gloves she knew Castle stole from the precinct a little while ago for 'research'. When she found them, she returned to the kitchen and carefully opened up the thick, creme-white envelope which said 'Richard Castle and Katherine Beckett', unsure what awaited them inside but certainly sure of some of the text on the card.

"Would anyone be so kind to tell me what is going on?" Martha asked, clearly completely unaware of the envelope's meaning.

Kate pulled the card and read the text inside:

_You are cordially invited to attend_  
_the beachside wedding ceremony uniting_

_Katherine Houghton Beckett_  
_and_  
_Richard Edgar Castle_

_on June 22nd, 2013 at 3pm._

There was one small addition at the bottom, a set of numbers. 968.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, lovely readers. The mystery woman and the mystery man revealed. As soon as the lady became a recurring character I thought Marlowe might wanna play with her a little in the upcoming season. Why else would she be there? Don't get me wrong, I like her. But I seriously need some more '24-ish' twists here. So, Marlowe, gimme that! ;-)**

**As always, reviews are highly loved and appreciated and I read every single one of them with delight. Thanks for all the alerts and follows, too! Cheers!**


	13. Intensification

**A/N: Thank you for the ongoing positive feedback to my first ever published fiction. It seems to write itself at times and I've realized the creative writing also boots my research writing by ... a lot! Which is super positive :-) (and super needed, if I must say so ... geeez). I don't own Castle, you know that by now ... go on, enjoy!**

**_I'm gonna use bold + italics whenever our mystery woman / Tori Ellis gives information that's essential. Whenever she is "just" there, I'll use the normal format. We're gonna do some parts from 3XK's POV this way, too ... ;)_**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Intensification**  
**_  
_**_There was one small addition at the bottom, a set of numbers. 968._

* * *

Kate excused herself to the study, pulling out her smartphone as she went. She needed to call Ryan and Esposito with an update of the second envelope they had just found in Castle's mail, addressed to the both of them.

"Richard, would you mind telling me, what exactly is going on here? Because this is ..." Martha said, clearly still unsure about the latest development she had just witnessed.

"Awkward?" he responded, a forced smile on his face.

"Come on, Richard, how could it not be? You two are nowhere near getting married on June 22nd, we all know that and it is perfectly fine" Martha encouraged him "but who on earth would have the knowledge that you were planning to someday? With her?"

"That, mother, is what we have to find out" Castle responded, suddenly exhausted from the recent developments.

"You have a theory, don't you?" pressed Martha, who knew her son better than he would admit to himself.

"I have. And Kate and I have already agreed to disagree on it."

"Sooo?"

"So?"

"Who do you think is behind all this?" Martha pointed at the invitation and the envelope on the counter.

"The only person I can think of that would enjoy playing with us would be Tyson, mother."

"But you shot him! Didn't you tell me you did?"

"We did. At least that's what we think we did. I just don't believe it. It was too convenient for him, to be able to start anew. To kill again. With a new identity, the old one proclaimed dead. The perfect alibi. Whenever someone suspected the connection, the trace would get cold as soon as someone sees the death certificate." Castle said.

Martha furrowed her brow. Her son's theories often included drastic or just unlikely scenarios as to who the killer must have been, granted, but his explanation concerning 3XK sounded valid and just all too possible. She shuddered, recollecting the last time Jerry Tyson had interfered with their lives. The horror to find out he had accessed their loft whenever he pleased, had installed video cameras and hidden microphones to eavesdrop on them. How easy it had been for him to place false evidence in the loft without anyone noticing. How Richard had reacted as soon as the perpetrator had been declared dead. A team of police professionals had swept the place for three full days which brought several hidden devices to light. The intrusion into their home, their safe zone, the violation of their privacies. No, Jerry Tyson could not be allowed back into their lives, if he was still alive. He needed to be found soon.

"You will have to find him, before any of this continues." Martha said.

"I wish we could, mother, I really do. He seems to have connections and information that we lack. We need to get ahead of him and stop him - once and for all this time, if we can."

"I agree" said Kate who had finished her call and returned to the kitchen.

"So, you think it could be him?"

"I think it is a possibility" she answered, slightly stretching to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

* * *

**_"Detective Ellis" Esposito exclaimed, happily, at the sight of the attractive tech colleague entering the bullpen._**

**_"And you tell me, you don't flirt with her..." Ryan hissed under his breath._**

**_"I don't" Esposito responded "What do you have for us?"_**

**_The brunette approached their desks, held up the freshly burned DVD with evidence material and smiled._**

**_"We might be able to take a closer look at our weirdo from the café" she said._**

**_"That sure sounds great" said Ryan and gestured both of them into the adjacent room, where another tech colleague was busy setting up a little media system for them to use._**

_**"Thank you" Ellis said to her tech colleague who assured her, he was just putting the finishing touches to the set-up. When he was done and **__**left, Ryan opened the pictures of Carol Jennings' back on the left screen. Lanie had send high resolution pictures of the numbers carved into her back which were better recognizable after the body had been washed in the morgue.**_

_**"**__9668?" _

_****__"Looks like it" said Esposito._

_****__"We'll figure that out, don't worry. I like numbers" Ellis said. She knew that neither Ryan nor Esposito had any idea she exactly knew what the numbers meant. She would let the figure it out with her help, gently directing them to their hidden meaning. She had her instructions. She would follow them. Would go through with the plan.  
_

* * *

"Relax, Kate" said Castle, tenderly touching her shoulders, standing behind her.

"I know it's difficult and I know it is hard to not rush off into the precinct again. Ryan and Esposito have it covered, tech is working on the surveillance footage and Lanie must have sent the pictures already. There isn't much we could do, anyways."

"I know" she sighed.

They had retreated into the bedroom for some alone time. Martha had resumed her whirlwindy activities in the kitchen and both Kate and Castle needed a break from the hectic that spread like a wildfire.

"Let the boys take it from here, I'll check for any electronics that don't belong here and have added security" he said. Her eyebrows shot up.

"If it is Tyson, there is _NO WAY_ I am inviting him into my personal space ever again, Kate. I want to put this behind us once and for all. Right now, all I want is a relaxed dinner with our family. This should be about us, this will be about us. We'll figure everything out, Kate, together."

She sure liked the sound of that. She sat down on the bed, the mattress slightly giving in due to her weight. She tried to breathe more slowly, controlled. Then suddenly her eyes snap open.

"Castle!"

Castle who was busy with the contents of his bedside table drawer, turned towards her and looked at her shocked expression.

"How did he know we're ... engaged?"

"Oh, we are?" asked Castle, obviously amused about her slip up.

"Ugh Castle, focus, please! How did he know?"

"You mean, someone had us under surveillance?"

"I'd say yes"

* * *

"Let's go over what we have so far" Ryan said, his eyes tired. He barely suppressed a yawn.

"We have the numbers 9668 carved into Carol Jennings' upper back, we have the numbers 968 on the second invitation that Castle got. There is the surveillance camera that shows the guy in the café that, according to the barista, acted strange. Play that one again?!" Ryan summed their findings up and asked Tori to play the surveillance material again._  
_

"Wait a second!" Esposito said, gesturing Detective Ellis to pause the video.

"Javi?" Ryan asked, suddenly concerned.

"Can we run a face recognition software, Tori?"

"Sure! If he has a record, we'll find him. I'll narrow the criteria down. We can estimate his size, that'll make it easier. I would skip the hair color - it's too easy to dye them differently. It should still take a while for the software to find a match, if there is one" she frantically typed on her keyboard and a little later the face recognition software did its job. Ryan's cell phone ringed.

"Ryan? Oh, hey Beckett, what's up? ... Oh ... okay? Yeah, yeah, you could be right ... yeah, on it right now. Yeah, I will. Try to relax, we have it covered. Bye."

"What was that all about?" asked Esposito.

"Beckett and Castle suspect they were under surveillance" said Ryan.

"Why?" asked Ellis.

"Think about it" answered Ryan, pointing at the photo of the invitation found at Castle's loft "these invitations need to be made. Even if the occasion is totally made up, it takes planning to have them ready when you need them. Especially, when they are made out of exquisite material. They look expensive. Stuff like this costs a fortune. I remember Jenny showing me the prices for our invitations. I almost fell off my chair at dinner..."

"You're right, bro" Esposito cut in "they we're acting weird ever since the case with Vaughn. It was only today they were back to normal again. If this is connected to 3XK, he must have watched them reconcile. Think about it, this guy is always so well informed. Remember, when he was able to trick everybody in this very building and waltzed in and out as he pleased?"

"Ha, but they are not getting married, no way" Ryan grinned. Esposito just flashed him a smile that would have fit a toothpaste commercial. Ryan answered with a sky high eyebrow and a silent 'huh?'.

"So, if we find the person who created the cards for him ..." Ellis cut in.

"... we might be able to tell, how many there are." Ryan added.

"... and who gets them!"

"What are we waiting for, then?"

Just in this very moment the face recognition software started to beep frantically, the screen showing a big green sign saying 'POSITIVE MATCH'. Ryan, Esposito and Ellis faced the screen to see their suspicions confirmed. It was, indeed, their old friend Jerry Tyson. A bad thing just got worse.

* * *

_**The next envelope was already in place as he opened the door to a cheap hotel room in an even cheaper neighborhood. He'd found his next victim, too. By now, they should have found out it was him. Their progress slowed or quickened by his decoy and accomplice. At his will. There was no way they could stop him before he finished his plan.**_

_**He had made everyone believe he was dead. Shot in the chest by several bullets from their weapons. Fallen into the depths of the water, not found by rescuers. The best cover story there was, right there for him to use as an excuse to set up the ploy against Castle and his detective. He angrily gnashed his teeth. They were done. It was time he got what he deserved. And so did she.  
**_

* * *

Unwilling to spoil the night Martha had created for Alexis, Kate and Castle had agreed not to mention their latest case and their possible involvement to Alexis.

"So much for 'having a little fun with Ryan and Esposito when they try to figure out what is going on" Castle said, slightly miffed. Kate just looked at him, mollifyingly. She wore black dress pants, a purple flowing blouse and her necklace with the two rings was displayed against the silky dark purple fabric.

"Do you think we should tell Alexis?" she asked, cautious. Alexis had accepted their relationship more easily than Kate had anticipated (and feared) but this new development could shake their foundation again.

"I think you should" Castle answered, mocking her slightly "may I remind you that you were the one to say you'd make it official?"

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"And may I say, you look very pretty tonight?"

She blushed.

"Oh yeah?" she teased, running her fingers up and down his muscular arms. They embraced.

"Just help me, Castle. Get through all of this" she whispered and Castle could tell she was not only thinking about the upcoming dinner. She was, in fact, talking about everything they had agreed on doing. To be more open with each other. To allow little secrets, on the other hand. To accept each other's flaws and weaknesses. To offer help to make them a strength. To peel the onion. To uncover the depths of each other's soul. To sacrifice things for the other.

"I will, always" he responded against her hair.

* * *

**A/N: The plot will thicken further. The next envelope will be found soon. The next two, in fact. And, it all ends June 22nd. The latest. 'cos that's how Jerry plans it ;-) See you soon guys, and remember, reviews are golden :*  
If you find any mistakes, grammar or spelling-wise, please point them at me and be gentle :***


	14. Surprises

**A/N: More than half of the needed 50.000 words is done. I am sill overwhelmed by your constant alerts, follows, favs and reviews as well as private messages you send me. This is seriously amazing - you've motivated me and the first of two essays is done, too. Just because you support this story, so congratulate yourself on that ;-)**

**Why is Ellis working with 3XK ... you'll have to be a little more patient, that'll be explained laaaaater :-) Enjoy :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 14 - Surprises**

_"And may I say, you look very pretty tonight?"_

_She blushed._

_"Oh yeah?" she teased, running her fingers up and down his muscular arms. They embraced._

_"Just help me, Castle. Get through all of this" she whispered and Castle could tell she was not only thinking about the upcoming dinner. She was, in fact, talking about everything they had agreed on doing. To be more open with each other. To allow little secrets, on the other hand. To accept each other's flaws and weaknesses. To offer help to make them a strength. To peel the onion. To uncover the depths of each other's soul. To sacrifice things for the other._

_"I will, always" he responded against her hair._

* * *

The dinner started around 9 pm when Alexis finally made her way to the loft. Traffic had been crazy and some of her fellow students had gathered travel advice - some had already requested help with their packing. It had slowed Alexis down significantly. They sat around the big and roomy table and the waiter Martha hired was busy mixing the first round of drinks for them.

Castle didn't wanna press Kate into talking to Alexis about the private events that took place during the last couple of days but he found she wasn't hiding her engagement ring all too well. It was still nestled against the silky fabric of her dark violet blouse. Martha shot him a look that said '_she's not hiding it very well_' and if Kate noticed, she didn't react.

It was Alexis, who eventually broke the silence.

"I know this is kinda odd coming from me" she started, looking insecure all of the sudden "but is there something you guys wanna talk to me about?"

Castle, who was occupied with receiving his white wine, almost let the delicate glass slip through his fingers. Kenny, the young waiter, shot him a disapproving look. Now he was being scolded by a boy in his twenties who was probably still wet behind his ears? Really?

Martha straightened her posture, leaning in. She, too, was eager to find out. Granted, there had been the cryptic insinuation by her son earlier that day. Not to mention the all too creepy faked wedding invitation. Still, they hadn't come totally clean with her. And here they were, confronted with the only other person left on the planet Richard could not lie to. And didn't want to.

Kate played with a strand of her hair. It was her gesture for flirting and for very uncomfortable situations. Still, who was she kidding? She needed to come clean with Alexis before the girl flew off to Costa Rica. If she was honest to herself, she shouldn't find it uncomfortable at all. She sat in the midst of her new family and she could become an official member of it if she was able to just open her mouth and speak!

"I am not good at expressing myself" she started, her voice quiet and tense "I've never been and I am just getting started opening up. To all of you, I guess."

Castle shot her an encouraging look and Martha's eyes already started to fill with tears. '_What a melodramatic she can be sometimes_' Castle thought.

"We've a lot of hard work ahead of us. I learned that the hard way" she looked at Castle, her eyes full of apology "but I was never one to give up."

"That is most certain, dear" said Martha. Alexis, too, looked at her and genuinely nudged Kate's arm, encouraging her to go on. The sensitive redhead understood how difficult the speech must be for her father's girlfriend.

"I learned ... we learned ... that we have to challenge ourselves constantly. Life challenges us and people do, too" Castle flinched. Kate squeezed his thigh.

"We've agreed on trying this together a little over a year ago and it's been a great run. We've decided we want even more" she added, almost quoting his exact words from the swing set. Alexis sensed where the monologue was headed and a smile slowly spread on her face.

When Kate was shot at Roy Montgomery's funeral and they had rushed her off to the hospital, a part of her father died when she was brought into the ER. The dark months that followed when she had retreated into her father's cabin were very visible recollections for Alexis. His brooding mood. Sometimes not seeing him for days when inspiration struck him and he just wrote for 36 hours straight. Him forgetting to shower. Him not caring for showers at all. Her shoving him into his bathroom because she couldn't stand the moping mess that he had been any longer.

When Kate returned to the city and they started working together again Alexis had asked him if she made him happy. He had said yes. She had pressed if this was enough. He had said it was 'for now'.

She hadn't seen him as gloriously happy with anyone else before. The past year had made up for all the other situations they had found themselves in. Alexis was happy for her dad. And for Kate, too. They both deserved happiness.

"Soooo?" asked Alexis, now beaming. Kate touched the engagement ring on her necklace and Alexis gasped.

"So we are getting married ..." Kate slowly said and added "someday."

Alexis quickly got up and went around the table to wrap Kate in a tight hug. Martha patted her son's arm and smiled knowingly. Castle got up to find himself wrapped in a tight squeeze by his daughter the moment he stood. He was relieved Alexis took the news so well. After all, she had seen the best and the worst Kate could do to him.

"I hope you don't mind me asking" the younger redhead said when she had detangled her arms from her father's tight grip "but why are you not wearing it ... um ... where you'd normally wear it?

Kate blushed. She couldn't properly explain her hesitation to herself, how was she supposed to explain it to Alexis?

"You just wanna be sure?" Alexis asked.

'Is that it? Do I just wanna be entirely sure?' Kate thought. She knew there were no guarantees. She knew there was no one out there making the promise that they would live happily ever after. But if it wasn't with him, then it couldn't be with anyone else. She simply new it. She should never have allowed a job offer doubt the man she loved. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"No ... I ... I am sure." Kate whispers. Castle looked at her, suddenly all excited. His eyes sparkled with hope, pride and joy. She was there, right next to him. And she was sure. His joking self came to life.

"Why don't you put it on when we're at home. And at work, you hide it. That way we can have some fun with Ryan and Esposito!"

"Oh Richard!"

"Daaaaad!"

"Castle!"

* * *

"Can we try to run the numbers again?" asked Ryan, his eyes tired.

"Yo, why don't we call it a night?" Esposito contradicted "You look super tired man, and I bet Jenny would love to see you come home before midnight."

"You could be right about that" Ryan mumbled.

"So go, we have it covered."

Ryan 'uampfed' and shuffled out of the room to grab his jacket and leave. That left Esposito and Tori Ellis.

"So, we know it is our friend Tyson" Esposito stated, all businesslike "and we know he's left us a little riddle with the numbers. All we need to do is find out what they say."

Tori rubbed her eyes, pretending to be exhausted as well. In truth, she wasn't tired at all. However, she knew that she couldn't credibly point the detective at the correct solution tonight. Either, because the plan said otherwise and because she wanted to remain credible to the detectives and to their superiors. So she pretended to suppress a yawn.

"Yo, you look tired, too. Why don't we wrap this up and get a fresh start tomorrow?" Esposito asked.

"Sounds pretty good to me" Ellis responded, gathering her belongings which she's brought down in the meantime.

Esposito, whose cell phone had lit up with a message, looked at her and said "Imma ... head out, gotta get going..."

"Alright" Ellis smirked "I'll find the way out."

* * *

_**As soon as Esposito was out of sight, she took out her burner phone and typed a message:**_

_**"They know it's you. Didn't figure out the message. As planned."**_

_**His response is quick, as always: "Perfect. You're doing well. 395"**_

**_She snapped her phone shut and headed out of the precinct. Her night had just begun._**

* * *

Later that night when Kate was nestled against Castle's broad chest, her hand ordained with the sparkling engagement ring, she felt the urge to apologize again.**_  
_**

"I shouldn't have kept secrets" Kate mirrored her words from the swing set once again.

"I shouldn't have ever kept secrets from you. Sometimes I should have found the courage to walk up to you and say 'You're right, I'm jealous. And I like you.' I cannot actually believe I never had the guts to do it."

"Oh, so you admit that you had a crush on me when we met?"

Kate looks at him, disapprovingly.

"You're doing it again, Castle!"

"Doing what?"

"Distracting me with a witty comment. Didn't we agree on maintaining the mood, if it is serious? Even if it is just for a bit?" she begged.

"Yeah ... yeah, we did, I'm sorry" he apologized.

"Well, I should have been more open. I wanted someone to dive in with together, and I knew quite early that this someone was you. Not Will, not Demming, not Josh .. you we're right to confront me with that, back then. I fled into relationships with men I didn't love and ended them because they didn't mean enough for me. Well..."

"Well...?"

"You did. I ended things with all of them. For you. I know that now. I even wanted to go to the Hamptons with you that one summer and then you showed up with Gina" Kate said, a bitter tone in her voice.

"You did? Kate, I had no idea?!"

"See, I should have just told you. And I didn't."

"You did, now!" he responded, gently caressing her arm "We're here. We're good. Whatever happens, we'll do it together. Right?"

"Right" she smiled and snuggled even closer to him.

"That ring looks pretty on you" he mumbled into her ear, sending electric waves through her body.

"Yeah, you know what, Castle?"

"Yeah?" he hummed, pressing soft kisses along her neck.

"I wonder when the boys are gonna find out."

"I don't care" he groaned and attacked her throat with his mouth, quickly flipped her over and had her panting in no time.

"Right now I am more interested in this."

"Castle?"

"Mhhh?"

"What did Gates want?"

* * *

**A/N: Don't worry, we'll continue the murder investigation soon but I felt this needed to be done. I couldn't let Alexis go to Costa Rica without her knowing. I hope you've enjoyed this somewhat calmer chapter. Reviews are golden :-) If you manage to get the review count to 100, the next chapter will be online today, too. So, up to you guys ;-) xoxo**


	15. Wounded

**A/N: Sorry for the delay here, guys. We had to take the bunny to the vet's last night. Emergency hours. Bunny's doing fine, I was just worried sick it might be worse than it actually is. So I didn't finish this last night, sorry ... I know, I promised.**

**To address some reviews: If you think using 3XK for the story is an easy way out - fine, but if you don't like it, I suggest you read other stories that don't involve any (or this) villain figure in it. Go ahead, there are plenty out there ... ;-)**

**Just a friendly reminder, Marlowe just casually coughed when asked if 3XK is actually dead. And really, why giving up? He wants to punish Castle, and he will ;-) Marlowe will have him come back - In fact, I'm calling it now!**

* * *

**Chapter 15 - Wounded**  
_  
"I don't care" he groaned and attacked her throat with his mouth, quickly flipped her over and had her panting in no time._

_"Right now I am more interested in this."_

_"Castle?"_

_"Mhhh?"_

_"What did Gates want?"  
_

* * *

"Anything on the envelope?" were Kate's first words to Esposito when she entered the bullpen the next day, Castle casually trotting behind her. Mere seconds ago she had let her necklace slip behind the fabric of her shirt and loose cardigan. She almost forgot to put it into place because Castle -_ evil man!_ - had decided to wear one of his blue shirts to work. One of those shirts that made it almost impossible not to stare into his cobalt blue sparkling eyes. She basically didn't do much else than that on the elevator ride up to their floor.

"Nothing much" answered Esposito, a curious undertone to his voice. Beckett shot him a 'what?' look and his answering glare said 'don't what me'. She would have to ask him later what that exchange was all about.

"Hey Castle!" said Ryan who entered the bullpen from Gates' office. He nodded towards Beckett and immediately started his report before Kate could even open her mouth to ask him for it. Kate exchanged a look with Castle, asking him with her eyes if he had any idea, but Castle just shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, face recognition software shows that the weirdo from the cafè`is indeed our very beloved friend, Jerry Tyson" Ryan started sarcastically.

"Who we love dearly" Esposito added and grinned.

"Right. Well, traffic cam footage around the area was under planned maintenance so we cannot figure out exactly where he went. There is a subway station in walking distance so we assume he either got into a car and left or took the Metro out of the area."

"So that trace is already cooling down rapidly. What else?" asked Kate.

"Oh, we did manage to collect the numbers he left so far..."

"Which is easy 'cos there are two?" Castle mocked them.

"Ha Ha" Esposito said and looked at the writer disapprovingly "shouldn't you know us better than that?"

"I do. That's why I mention it" grinned Castle, earning the slap on the arm which followed. He muttered curses under his breath and was at the receiving end of yet another disapproving look by his girlfrie... hang on ... fiancée. Undercover fiancée. Uh, he liked the sound of that.

"Anyway" said Ryan and ignored Castle as best as he could "so far we cannot see a pattern. It might be some kind of a code but Detective Ellis from tech thinks she might need a third set of numbers to establish something."

The elevator doors came down to a stop at their floor and as soon as the elevator doors opened, a slightly hysterical Lanie Parish stormed out of it and walked straight towards the three detective and the one who pretended to be one.

She held an evidence bag in her hand.

It looked like they would soon get their next set of numbers.

* * *

**_The body dropped on the floor with a barely audible thud._**

**_It thrilled him every time. The killing was easy, it was pure satisfaction for him. He couldn't tell when it started, didn't want to question his fantasies. The precious moment when the life left the body of his victim, the limbs stopping their motions, the soft motion with which they glided to the floor._**

**_He craved these things, couldn't tell when it started, couldn't tell how to finish. Didn't want to finish. He inhaled deeply, the scent of fear and death awareness tangible in the air. At least for him. He loved the smell._**

**_Her red hair flowed down her back. She had glided onto the floor and now lay face-down on the turquoise carpet in her small apartment. She had tried to defend herself, had even shown some impressive moves from the self-defense class she attended a week ago after which she had crossed his path. He had chosen her. Her weak defensive movements powerless against his willpower, his determination to make her next._**

**_He took out a knife. Time to leave the next part of his riddle. This time, an expensive engagement ring also found its way into his pockets.  
_**

* * *

**_"_**Lanie Parish & Javier Esposito?" Castle stared at the third envelope.

"Bro, we can read." said Esposito, still somewhat miffed.

"Yeah, Castle, no need to read it aloud" added Ryan.

"Well, if the kindergarden would like to stop ... like ... now?" insisted Lanie and Esposito's grin immediately vanished. Ryan and Castle exchanged amused looks, to turn serious again fairly quickly.

"I found this in the mail this morning. I've put on gloves and bagged it up in case there are any prints on the envelope" Lanie said.

"Good, we need to dust it for prints and then see which set of numbers we get" Beckett said, expecting her colleagues to move. None of them did.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, we were wondering ..."

"... when you guys..."

"... we're going to tell us ..."

"... that you're getting married."

Beckett coughed. Castle just stood there, waiting for her next move. After all, it's what he had done for the past five years. Waiting. And awaiting. Her signals. Speeches. Directions.

Nothing happened.

"Beckett?" Ryan asked, tentatively.

"We're not, okay?" Beckett said, a little louder than necessary "now can we go back to work?"

Ryan and Esposito did know better than to contradict so they marched off to their respective work places. Ryan set off for forensics a little while later. Only Lanie lingered around.

"You have to be a little more convincing if you wanna have any fun with the two, y'know..." Lanie declared. Castle chuckled but quickly excused himself to make coffee. He sensed Lanie wanted to talk to his fiancée in privacy which he happily granted her. Maybe he got lucky with the coffee hearts again? This time around he would make sure she appreciated them the way he intended to.

"You're not wearing it?"

"Nope" said Kate, sitting down, involuntarily clutching her necklace with her free left hand.

"Even if you continue to hide it, girl, you radiate happiness. It isn't as powerful as it was when you first had your way with writer boy last year" Lanie smirked at Kate's rapidly blushing cheeks "because you've realized how much _WORK_ the two of you are, but it is there. They're gonna detect it. It's their job. Poorly done, at times, but it is their job."

"Oh wow, Lanie, you support your man" Kate said sarcastically.

"You do what you can. But seriously, are you ever gonna wear it?"

"I do" it slipped out of Kate's mouth without a warning "at home. I do it at home."

"So you finally moved in?"

"Lanie!"

"Not the right time?"

"Neither place nor time."

"Fine, my place, 9pm tonight. Don't be late."

Kate didn't even protest. She knew she didn't stand a chance. Lanie excused herself for the morgue and Kate started to direct her attention towards the murder board. The two sets of numbers caught her eye. 'What do you wanna tell us, Tyson?" she thought.

Castle re-entered the bullpen, holding two small white coffee cups in his hands. He carefully balanced them towards her, placing the two mugs on the edge of her desk.

"Voilà" he said, grinning at her "and this time I want you to notice the hearts!"

* * *

**A/N: I will have to stop here, guys, but we shall soon continue. Now, if you'll excuse me, the bunny needs my attention. We now assume he suffers from Encephalitozoon cuniculi. It's the second time around but we reacted fast enough to prevent something worse from happening. See you soon.**


	16. Harmony

**A/N: Bunny is doing better. We did right to immediately go to the vet's. Medicine makes him depressed ( umpf ) and he's still not eating properly. Worst is, he hates us for the medication we have to force into him... Ah well, what's life without complications?**

**This being said, I still do not own Castle, nor have I ever. Doesn't change me wanting to. Enjoy, we're getting some action now ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 16 - Harmony**

"Neither place nor time."

_"Fine, my place, 9pm tonight. Don't be late."_

_Kate didn't even protest. She knew she didn't stand a chance. Lanie excused herself for the morgue and Kate started to direct her attention towards the murder board. The two sets of numbers caught her eye. 'What do you wanna tell us, Tyson?" she thought._

_Castle re-entered the bullpen, holding two small white coffee cups in his hands. He carefully balanced them towards her, placing the two mugs on the edge of her desk._

_"Voilà" he said, grinning at her "and this time I want you to notice the hearts!"_

* * *

A few hours later frustration spread among the detectives.

The only connection between all events they knew of were the sets of numbers found on the envelopes. One under Carol Jennings, the second (or first?) in Castle's loft and the third in Lanie Parish's apartment.

Evidence still wasn't done with the third envelope for the lab was busy with a lot of cases and the evidence from them.

The security camera footage around the café Jerry Tyson had found the first victim had in fact been under planned maintenance and there had been no way of telling in which direction he could have gone after he left the café. Also the footage from around the building the victim lived in didn't bring any serial killer to light.

"I think we might be approaching it from the wrong angle here" Castle suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Kate had buried her head in her hands and now looked up.

"What if ...?" started Castle and got up to get closer to their white murder board.

Esposito and Ryan got up and surrounded the murder board, too. This practically smelled like some of Castle's 'wicked theory' moments and they wouldn't want to miss out.

"Now that the ladies have joined us..." Castle started, avoiding another punch from Esposito by just a bit.

"What if the letter we found with Carol wasn't the first one? What if it was meant second? Normally I would have checked the mail before we got into the precinct..."

"Before we..." chuckled Esposito.

"Huh?"

"Nothin'" Esposito responded but Kate decided she would have to have a word with him later. All the snickering and bickering annoyed her. Especially if her relationship was the main center of attraction.

"Can we run the numbers again?"

"Already did"

Another female voice echoed around the precinct. They all turned around.

"Now, this _is_ a pleasant surprise!"

* * *

**_He ducked out of the apartment building, using all the blind spots the cameras didn't cover. He _****_didn't walk too fast or too slow. He matched the pace of everyone around him, hid in a small crowd and disappeared._**

**_He took out the new burner phone he bought and typed a new message._**

**_'Stage Two of the plan now commences. 395'_**

**_He hit send and the small text message found its way into telecommunication nirvana._**

**_He took a couple of dollars out of his pocket and decided to go for a hot dog. _**

**_His burner phone buzzed, indicating a new incoming message._**

**_'I'll tip them off.'_**

**_Perfect. This was exactly what he needed. They already knew he wasn't dead. They probably already understood that he wanted to have a little fun with them, to make it interesting. Now they needed to find out that he was actually telling them a story. A deadly story._**

**_He passed a book store with a huge cardboard figure._**

**_"Richard Castle - Deadly Heat, in bookstores September 17th!"  
_**

* * *

"Please tell me you have some cool new FBI gadgets I'll get to use?"

"I have. You won't."

Kate chuckled. Obviously Agent Jordan Shaw hadn't changed too much since they had last seen her. She was still quick-witted and sarcastic and Castle was truly enjoying her arrival.

"Ahhh, Agent Shaw, you made it" Gates emerged from her office and welcomed the latest addition to the case team.

"Captain, my pleasure!" the FBI agent responded.

"I have requested help from the FBI despite the latest" ... Gates shot a quick glance over to Kate ... "confusion. So we have additional help and resources to be able to put Jerry Tyson behind bars. Or kill him, if we must. This time I want to make this final."

"We all do" muttered Castle under his breath, normally used to another scolding look but Gates shot him a sympathetic look that said 'don't worry, I remember what he did to you'.

"Well then, let's all get to work and do our best to find the bastard before he kills any more people" said Gates and the silence was replaced by a buzzing, different voices, noises, telephones, footsteps, computers.

Castle trotted off into the break room behind Agent Shaw and went on and on about latest smartphone apps, drones, equipment and gadgets he had recently bought. The nine-year old on a sugar rush was back. Kate slowly shook her head but smiled benignly. Then she noticed that Esposito still lingered next to her office so she shot him a questioning look.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, indicating he wanted to sit down on Castle's chair.

"Um, yeah, sure..." Kate said. He sat down. Nothing happened. He didn't open his mouth but was at the same time quite obviously searching for the right words to use.

"That job they offered you Kate .. come on, be honest. What happened? We're successful, hell, _YOU're_ successful and you're more than smart. That job sounded pretty cool if you ask me. Like a good opportunity. So ... what happened?"

"Much. Pretty much happened" Kate answered, looking directly into his eyes.

Whether it was the fact that Esposito did in fact spend a lot of his time with Lanie and her friend actually tipped him off (which Kate highly doubted) or if Lanie's theory of 'love radiation" was actually true, the result was the same.

"Oh, so you guys do get serious?"

Nevertheless, Kate was taken off guard. When had Esposito become so thoughtful?

"Uh, yeah, I guess ... umm"

"That's awesome" Esposito simply said and got up.

"Hey Espo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind..."

"... not telling anyone? Yeah, I get it. But you should know, we can all see it. The way you were totally bombarding your man with love eyeballs at his birthday party? How mad he got when that ... you know what ... happened. You turning a job offer down that would have placed you in another city and your tag along couldn't actually tag along? Trust me Kate, we know."

"Love eyeballs?" Kate snickered.

"What?"

"Oh, Espo, you do spend too much time with Lanie."

* * *

**_She got dressed in a hurry after she had spent too much time in the shower. She had felt like she had needed an excessive cleanse after the last night. She had spent several hours observing the entrance of 595 Broome Street, establishing a pattern._**

**_Did they already find the envelope?_**

**_Did they suspect to being watched?_**

**_She also kept tabs on the youngest redhead, Alexis Castle. She knew, Jerry had actually considered her to be a victim of his but had forfeited the idea after a while. _**

**_Tori could tell why._**

**_It wouldn't have been as playful as it was now. Now all they had in common was their hair and probably a cut off finger._**

**_Now she needed to go to work. It was time to find a pattern for the sets of numbers Jerry had left behind. Not that she didn't already know how it worked. Now all she needed to do was to make sure that Castle, Beckett and the rest of them did, too.  
_**

* * *

It took thirty minutes for Kate to fight down her curiosity, then she had to go to the break room to find out if Agent Shaw had dozed off in the meantime of had endeavored to kill Castle to make him stop talking. Kate peeked around the corner only to find the writer and the FBI agent engrossing the whole table with case files, notes and photographs.

"What's going on in here?"

"We work..." said Castle, deep into the reading of a particularly old looking case file. He had even put on his reading glasses. Kate shuddered and a soft red color immediately shot into her cheeks, leaving them hot and burning. It made Kate feel like a mixture between a red traffic light and an embarrassed teenager. Those reading glasses did it for her. He looked so smart with them on. Not that he didn't anyways, but they bestowed a certain degree of additional attraction upon him which Kate couldn't escape from.

"Good to see that you're finally sleeping with each other" Jordan Shaw commented out of the blue.

Castle choked on the sip of coffee he had just drank and needed to cough several times before he regained his ability to breathe and speak. His head was red as a lobster and his eyes were filled with unshed tears when he answered.

"What makes you say that?"

"Mr. Castle" Shaw begun "I am an FBI agent. I know these things. Besides, if you remember, I could have sworn you already did when we first met. You know, when..."

"... uh! You mean, when her apartment blew off because someone thought it would be a cool idea? And Kate living with me in the loft and..."

"Castle?!" Kate asked, incredulous.

"Oh, I am rambling again, right? Shutting up"

The two woman exchanged an amused look. There was a knock on the door and Karpowski peeked in.

"Beckett? Body drop!"

* * *

Castle insisted on staying behind at the precinct. His inquisitive mind was too occupied with the old case files of 3XK's previous murders as if he could be distracted now. So it were Kate and Agent Shaw who formed a team to the crime scene.

They rode a fancy looking black Sedan. Finally it was Jordan who broke the silence.

"It's good you dove in"

"Pardon?"

"It's good that you decided to give it go, I mean. With Castle. You had that special connection. The connection you need to stay happy for a long, long time." Jorden explained, sounding all too confident. Kate didn't know what to say. She had that conversation with Lanie over and over again. Why didn't you just kiss him? Why did you break up with Josh if not for him? Why do you push him away all the time? It can't hurt to try...

"About that..." Kate started. Jordan shot her an encouraging look.

"I just turned down a job with the FBI" Kate said, suddenly unsure why she would tell the agent that.

"Oh really? I hadn't heard anything through the grapevine yet. That's a first" Jordan laughed.

"I thought it was a really great opportunity and I was completely convinced it was what I wanted until..."

"... until you realized it was too time consuming? All-encompassing? If you declined, Kate, you must have had good reasons for doing so. I missed so many milestones my daughter hit when she was little and even now I feel like I am missing out on so many important things in her life. We do great things, Kate. We get justice for those who deserve it, we help the victim's families, we help making the world a safer place. Sometimes we sacrifice our lives and I don't mean that just in the literal sense. Sometimes we forget that we have a life of our own and if that realization made you turn down the offer Kate, then it was the right thing to do."

Kate needed a moment to digest the speech Jordan had just given her. After that she just said: "Thank you."

"You're welcome. The two of you are extraordinary."

"That we are."

* * *

The crime scene looked clean. Except it was a crime scene. They were greeted by a grumpy Pearlmutter who went on and on about 'too much work' and 'too many weirdos out there' - had there ever been a time when good ol' Pearlmutter didn't have anything to complain about?

"Where is this annoying tag along of yours, Beckett?" he asked.

"Why, Pearlmutter, do you already miss him?"

"Miss him?" he snorted and knelt down close to the victim "that's never gonna happen!"

Kate gestured the bemused looking agent Shaw on and both stood close to the victim who lay on herturquoise bedroom carpet, her red hair contrasting it.

"Anything you can tell us, yet?" Jordan asked and Pearlmutters eyebrows shot up.

"And you are?"

"Agent Jordan Shaw, FBI!"

"Oh, someone called the cavalry?" The M.E. said, trying to sound amused when he was clearly not. Grumpy Pearlmutter. Kate decided she had enough of his grumpiness and gestured him to say something.

"Ah, since you're asking so non-verbally but nicely ... may I introduce you to Harmony Eddington. 27-years old, she lived alone. She was strangled, no defensive wounds so far and she is missing a finger."

"Wait, which one?" asked Kate, alarmed.

Pearlmutter pulled out the victim's hand from under her body and there it was. The second missing ring finger.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, Shaw is back. Good, bad? I had (!) to have her back and she will be needed for the action later ;) And I loved her witty comments. There is more coming up. Thanks for 117 (!) reviews so far, all the alerts and follows. You're amazeballs and you make Mondays matter! Cheerio!**


	17. Suspicions

**A/N: Whoa, I've managed to write over 30.000 words on this? Already? When did this happen? I am truly happy and excited you guys are still liking the story. I aim to help you guys with this hiatus. There, I said the bad 'h'word. Okay, now I still mind that Castle does not belong to me. Andrew W. Marlowe is the only person who can do something about it, so Andrew, if you please be so kind ... no? Uh, never mind...**

* * *

**Chapter 17 - Suspicions**

_"Agent Jordan Shaw, FBI!"_

_"Oh, someone called the cavalry?" The M.E. said, trying to sound amused when he was clearly not. Grumpy Pearlmutter. Kate decided she had enough of his grumpiness and gestured him to say something._

_"Ah, since you're asking so non-verbally but nicely ... may I introduce you to Harmony Eddington. 27-years old, she lived alone. She was strangled, no defensive wounds so far and she is missing a finger."_

_"Wait, which one?" asked Kate, alarmed._

_Pearlmutter pulled out the victim's hand from under her body and there it was. The second missing ring finger._

* * *

**_She arrived at the precinct in time. She greeted familiar faces here and there, once also casually entered a conversation for some minutes. The content of the mindless jibber jabber already forgotten when she turned around. She directly went into the conference room they had turned into her media station to find someone already working there._****_  
_**

**_"Um, excuse me?" she asked, completely clueless as to what was going on._**

**_"Yeah?" the male said unimpressed, looking up from the screen._**

**_"What are you doing here?"_**

**_"Agent Montrose, FBI" he stretched out his right hand to shake hers._**

**_"That still doesn't answer my question" Detective Ellis said, still taken aback._**

**_"Oh, right. Our collaboration was requested by your captain. So we're here to support your attempts to find and arrest Jerry Tyson. I'm with the technical department of the FBI - I hope you don't mind that I've already taken a look at your _****_algorithms?"_**

**_"Well, even if I minded, would that change anything?" _**

**_"I'm afraid, it wouldn't" said Agent Montrose and directed his attention back to the screens._**

**_Detective Ellis fumed. Her task had just gotten more complicated. This outside interference from the FBI did mean an addition of people snooping around the precinct. It would surely make her part of the plan more difficult. As a peace offering and to gloss over her internal struggle, she asked: "Can I get you a coffee from the break room?"_**

**_"That's nice, thanks. But I am on a cleanse" the agent answered and Tori saw the bottle of green juice on the table. It was apparently a trend she'd been missing out on. 'Never mind' she thought._**

**_"I'm getting one for myself." she excused herself from the conference room and quickly made her way into the break room. She took out her burner phone and typed a message to him._**

**_'FBI snooping around here, too. What do I do?"_**

**_His answer didn't take long._**

**_'Still tip them off. Back down a bit. We'll meet soon. Location follows. _****____****395'**

**____****That was better. Now all she needed was them finding out about the set of numbers and then all she needed to do was observe.  
**

* * *

"So this is definitely him" Agent Shaw said, getting up.

"No doubt about it now" Kate answered bitterly.

"He kills in triples so we can assume there is one more woman out there we need to protect."

"Well, we have to try"

"Can I wrap this up now?" asked a still somewhat grumpy M.E. Pearlmutter and gestured towards the two medical assistants standing around a gurney.

"You may" said Agent Shaw before Kate could even blink. A couple of years back she might have minded that someone else took the lead. With some amazement she realized that this wasn't the case too often anymore. 'Maybe Castle is rubbing off on me more than I thought' she smiled, thinking about him.

"See? That's the exact smile you had for your writer three years ago." Agent Shaw commented.

"Shall we get going?" Kate asked her, pretending not to have heard.

"Yeah, we shall"

* * *

Castle still sat in the break room with the old 3XK case files. He had put all of them aside, had taken down the glasses and closed his eyes for a moment. Kate mockingly called this his 'inner vision-phase' because he did this a lot when he sat in his office to write. It helped him channel his ideas and he hoped it would give him the needed inspiration to decode Jerry's thinking. Her was a mystery writer after all. It was part of his job to think about ways to kill people. For five years he had proved that he could think the other way around, about how to find motives, reasons, triggers. How hard could it be to find Jerry's weak spot?

The break room door opened and closed and someone took out a phone and typed a message. The beeping of the pressed buttons created a soft melody. The person went to the coffee machine and made him or herself a latte. The phone buzzed, indicating an incoming message. Castles eyes flew open.

"I know what the numbers mean" he practically shouted and Detective Ellis, who had just finished making her latte, almost dropped her spoon full of sugar.

"Castle! I didn't see you here" Ellis lied. Of course she had seen him.

"I know what the numbers mean" Castle said, this time a little calmer, and got up.

"What do you mean?" Ellis asked.

"Let's find out if I am right" he said and stormed out of the room.

Detective Ellis followed, a sly smile on her face. Now this worked like a charm.

* * *

Alexis had the weird feeling she was being followed.

She was out with three university friends who were all going to go on the trip to Costa Rica with her. They were doing last minute shopping for the essential items needed for the trip as extra strong sun blocker ('After all, you have such beautiful porcelain white skin' her grandmother had said.), insect-repellent spray ('Trust me, you don't want to get bitten ... at least not by insects' her father had said and winked. She had 'eewww'ed' in response.) and several other small necessities.

They were now sitting on a bench at a small but crowded park and Alexis could not shake off the feeling that someone was observing her, following them.

"Guys, I don't wanna be creepy or somethin'" she said, looking around her "but I think someone might be following us."

Since she hadn't come clean with any of her friends as to why she had disappeared for several days a few months ago, none of her girlfriends were particularly aware of their surroundings as she was. Alexis had to admit that she must have sounded ridiculous to an innocent bystander as her friends were. Just that. Innocent bystanders. If she was right and someone was following the group, it wasn't about any of them.

"Alexis, chillax" Amanda said and stretched her limbs out "the weather is nice, we're outside, no one is paying attention to us."

"Yeah" added Sophie "we're just some university students soaking up rays of sunshine before we get toasted by the Costa Rican sun."

Alexis couldn't relax. And she knew just who to call. She took out her mobile, went through her address book and chose a recipient of her call. She dialed. The person on the other end of the line answered the phone.

"Beckett?"

* * *

Castle bounced excitedly. Whenever one of his theories was tested or sudden inspiration hit him, he needed someone to either verify his utter nonsense (as Kate would call it if she was here now) or tell him off.

Agent Montrose and Detective Ellis both worked on a small algorithm that would quickly be able to confirm or trash his theory.

"Okay, let's see if you're right" said Ellis and the sets of numbers were checked for patterns.

All too quickly the numbers we're replaced by alphabetic characters, which formed words.

"Looks like you could be right, Castle" said Agent Montrose, impressed.

Castle beamed.

"Who would have thought that the old school phone from Detective Ellis would tip me off?"

"When you're surrounded by computers on a daily basis, Castle, you want it a little more old school when you're off work" Detective Ellis joked.

Castle raised his arms in defeat.

Distracted by their conversation, both the writer and the tech didn't realize the numbers had stopped transforming and the words were complete.

"Beckett's not gonna like this" Castle said, looking at the monitor.

"Nope" Ellis confirmed.

968 - 9668 - 23

YOU - WONT - BE

"We won't be ... what? Besides being annoyed because the hyphen is missing and the grammatical correctness is ripped to shreds?" Castle said.

* * *

Beckett couldn't hide her surprise when Alexis face had lit up on her phone screen. Castle's daughter would only call on very rare occasion and this fact alone had Kate worried in no time. She hurried to answer the phone.

"Beckett?"

"Hey Kate, this is Alexis" the redhead said, sounding agitated.

"What's going on?"

"I'm at the park with some friends. We're just done shopping but Kate ... I think we're being followed. I think I am being followed."

* * *

**A/N: ****I appreciate the offer to beta me. You know who you are :-) Some chapters of this story are read in advance and so far, nothing seemed off or odd. I am a non-native but my English is an UK-based English because that's what they teach first in school. It's that simple. If any American reader has suggestions to an improvement (i.e. on a semantic level), hey, just send a PM my way and explain it, if you want to. It surely will help my English advance even further. I just don't see the need for a second beta. Thanks anyway.**


	18. Ordeal

**A/N: Bunny is eating again. We did it :-) **

**For the review that addressed the missing information on No.3 - that was going to come up right now. But thank you for reading so attentively - I appreciate it! Also thanks for the semantical suggestions I do get via private message - they help a lot, thanks dear :)**

**Also I wanna thank you all for 200 followers to my story. I would never have expected y'all to like it this much. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. You've made me exceptionally happy.**

* * *

**Chapter 18 - Ordeal**

_Beckett couldn't hide her surprise when Alexis face had lit up on her phone screen. Castle's daughter would only call on very rare occasion and this fact alone had Kate worried in no time. She hurried to answer the phone._

_"Beckett?"_

_"Hey Kate, this is Alexis" the redhead said, sounding agitated._

_"What's going on?"_

_"I'm at the park with some friends. We're just done shopping but Kate ... I think we're being followed. I think I am being followed."  
_

* * *

"Alexis, relax" Kate tried to calm down the agitated student.

"I'm sorry, Kate but how am I supposed to relax? This is creepy!"

"I know" said Kate, gesturing at Jordan Shaw that she would explain the conversation later "when did you first think someone followed you?"

"Um, I dunno. At first it was just a very distinct feeling but I think I saw a man in a blue hoodie hiding around a corner when I looked. That's when I paid attention to it. I think I saw him first after we left the pharmacy."

"Alright, Alexis, where are you?"

"We're at Bryant Park, close to the Public Library. 'Witchcraft' is nearby."

"Okay, you stay where you are, I'm gonna pick you up." Kate said reassuringly and ended the call after she said some encouraging words to her fiancée's daughter.

Jordan shot her a questioning look and Kate explained their little detour. They got into the Sedan and Jordan started the navigation system. Kate chuckled "You should not show that to Castle..."

She hinted at the several features the navigation system seemed to have that clearly distinguished it from the ones you were ably to buy in an electronics store.

"Don't worry" Shaw grinned.

Kate looked at the road ahead, thinking about the information Alexis had given her. They had found two dead women, both of them had long, red hair. What if Tyson observed Alexis, too...? What if he planned on making her 'Number Three'?

"Detective?"

"Uhm?"

"He's not going to do that. He's not gonna make the girl 'Number Three'."

Confused that the FBI agent could obviously read her face like a map, Kate asked "How can you be so sure about that?"

"It wouldn't be as much fun."

Kate grinned. Yeah, Shaw was right. If Jerry chose Alexis, the game he played was pretty much over. He had just started it, mocked them. He used every shadow he could find to escape them. There was no way he was already ending the game with the ultimate deed. The death of Alexis would surely count as the ultimate revenge, the ultimate trick, the checkmate.

This was one of these times where you needed extra time on the clock but could be sure you wouldn't get it, no matter how hard you tried. This case knocked her off her feet. Even for her, an established New York City police detective, the last few days especially, were emotionally and physically hard. She had just started completely opening up to Castle and vice versa. Slowly there was a progress. They moved forward, made clear what they wanted. They were finally on the same page. And now one of their arch enemies decided to reappear and cause even more tension than anyone could possibly bear. At least not her, nor Castle if he knew his daughter might be in danger again.

* * *

"Okay" said Castle, turning away from the monitors and walked up and down the conference room "let's try to sum this up."

Agent Montrose, Detective Ellis, Ryan and Esposito formed a half circle. All of them looked at Castle, somewhat happy to let him take the lead while Beckett had gone to the crime scene. Even the - it must be in their nature - fancy looking FBI agent gave him enough credit. After all, he had heard a lot of stories involving a very intelligent mystery writer whose theories had helped solve quite a number of murders.

"The first victim is Carol Jennings. Her back had a knife carved tattoo saying '9668', which gives us the grammatically disputable 'WONT' with the lacking apostrophe" Castle snorted at the incorrectness of the grammar once again. He drew the line at things like this. After all, he was an author and should know better. Hell, everyone else should know better.

Before the internal rant could go on any further, Castle continued talking.

"Then there is the set of numbers Kate and I received on the invitation to my loft - 968"

"Your loft" Esposito added, mocking him, clearly aiming for a 'Kate and I live there together now' statement.

"Yeah, my loft. What did I say?" asked Castle, confused.

"Nothin' bro, go on"

"Um ... okay" said Castle and furrowed his eyebrows, partly in confusion, partly in concentration "where was I? Ah yeah, second set of numbers. We got that. Then there is the third set of numbers, we did finally get from forensics."

He gestured towards the third envelope, the one that was addressed to Lanie and Esposito. "They give us 'YOU" and 'BE'. This all added up gives us 'YOU WON'T BE' and this coming from 3XK doesn't make me too excited."

"Yeah" said Ryan.

"Anything on the body drop?" asked Agent Montrose.

"Nothing but the fact that it is yet another missing finger we have to deal with" answered Esposito.

"Hmmm" said Castle, his brows furrowing even further.

"And it is the second redhead dead" added Ryan, cringing at the unwanted and somewhat weird sounding rhyme he just produced.

* * *

Martha turned the key in the lock and opened the door to her acting studio at her acting school to let her students in. They were gonna do a part of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' to both practice romantic and dramatical performance parts. After all, what could be more dramatical than a play of messed up timing, fighting families and eternal love?

"Okay, dearies, if you'd be so kind to get yourselves some of the stools and form a half circle on the stage?" Martha instructed the ten students and they trotted off to do as she asked them.

The noise of the chairs being dragged over the wooden floor and the soft talking of her group filled the room and Martha took the opportunity to go through the mail that had arrived at the acting school.

One envelope stood out.

One that said 'Martha Rodgers' in beautiful golden letters.

Martha took out her phone and dialed her son's number.

* * *

Agent Jordan Shaw parked her Sedan at the entrance of Bryant Park that was closest to where Alexis described she was with her friends. She stuck a badge under the windshield, clearly visible from the outside.

"Another thing Mr. Castle should probably never get his hands on" she explained, grinning. Kate quickly went to the driver's side and peeked at the white badge.

"Oh, I am sure he would love a badge that allowed him to park everywhere"

Both women looked at each other for a short moment and grinned. Yeah, they were sure about that. Kate then turned and Jordan followed her towards Bryant Park. With every step, Kate increased her pace until she was almost running. She hadn't realized that she was this worried about Alexis until she was practically running along the paths towards 'Witchcraft'.

They saw a small group of young adults, standing around a park bench, all turning their heads when Kate approached them. One of them was Alexis. Kate felt relieved in an instant. She was still there. He didn't get to her. She had gotten there in time. Kate and Jordan slowed down.

"Kate!" Alexis called her, waving at the detective. She needed a little while to recognize the second woman.

"Agent Shaw?" Alexis exclaimed, happy to see the agent again.

Jordan just smiled at the young woman and then took in the scenery, scanning it for anything that was unnatural.

"Okay, can someone please tell us what is going on?" Amanda, Alexis' friend asked.

"We have legitimate reason to believe that someone might actually have followed Alexis." said Kate, looking at Alexis' friends, taking in their shocked expression. For them it had been one thing, mocking Alexis about her paranoia. Now that a New York Police officer had entered the scene who confirmed her friend's fears, suddenly made it believable. And scary. Very scary. Kate could tell that especially Sophie was frightened. Her father was a well-known chemistry manufacturer who had just recently gotten into a conflict with environmental activists. The family lived in constant fear that any of the more radical activists might not hesitate to find another target.

"I have called patrol cars coming here, police officers will escort you girls home. I wanna make sure no one can follow you or do you any harm" Kate said, her voice strong, reassuring.

She let Alexis talk to Sophie, who still seemed to be worried it could be all about her. Alexis would find the right words for the girl, sadly it was from experience. Kate turned toward Agent Shaw.

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not that I can spot anything. But if the girls were being followed by him, we should pull surveillance camera footage from the surrounding streets to see if we can spot him" Shaw answered.

A few minutes later, six police officers approached them, all hand-picked by Kate herself. She needed to make sure they were to trust. After she instructed them on the procedure, they all nodded and accompanied the girls to their squad cars.

Alexis, Jordan and Kate hung behind.

"Let's get you to the precinct, maybe you can help us with something" Kate said, nudging the younger woman's side playfully to lighten the mood a little bit. She thought maybe Alexis could watch the footage from the cafè Tyson was spotted and see if the person that had followed her group looked anything like him.

* * *

Castle's smartphone buzzed.

"Ghostbusters, Castle? Really?" asked Ryan when he heard the ring tone.

"What?" Castle asked, clearly displeased by Ryan's comment "It's a classic"

Castle looked at the screen and saw his mother's picture lit up on it. She would only call if it was important, he knew that. Something must have happened.

"Mother" he said, grinning "Wait, mother, slow down! What? ... Oh, another one? Did you touch it? Oh, okay. I'll have Ryan and Esposito come over to pick it up. Yeah, sure. No, mother, Beckett isn't here. She's at a ... yeah ... okay, mother. They're gonna be there, soon. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I do that. Okay, bye."

Castle rolled his eyes.

"What was that all about?" asked Ryan.

"She found another envelope. At her acting school" Castle answered.

Ryan took out his phone, read a message and then instructed Detective Ellis and Agent Montrose "Can you pull surveillance footage from around Bryant Park? Say, the last three hours?"

"Sure" Ellis said.

"Why?" asked Agent Montrose.

"To see if a certain someone is on there" Ryan replied.

"Where's Beckett?" Castle asked.

"She's on her way here with Shaw"

"Good .. can you guys...?"

"Go over to your mother's acting school? Drive through the whole city? Pick up that envelope and come back?" asked Esposito sarcastically. Castle just stared at him.

"Okay, Okay"

* * *

_**It was risky.**_

_**He risked being found today.**_

_**The door to his hotel room fell shut and although he needed the adrenaline like air, Jerry felt tired. Tired but pumped. He had just made the game more interesting by alluding to Alexis as a possible victim of his.**_

_**She was safe from him. He had no interest in killing him. It had just been too much fun thinking about increasing the worry Richard Castle felt. Not only for himself and his muse but also for his only daughter.**_

_**His exposure today meant another thing. He had to change his location. As soon as possible.**_**_  
_**

_**It was always good to have an alternative plan, alternative locations. People to count on, even if they used your name only in dark corners and whispered it almost imperceptible. But admiringly. Like you were their hero.**_

_**He packed the few belongings he had brought, took a last glance at the room and left for good.  
**_

* * *

Kate, Jordan and Alexis arrived at the precinct forty-five minutes later. During the ride, Alexis had been awfully quiet. It wasn't as if she was the most talkative person on the planet anyways, but her positive attitude she had retained after her abduction had vanished. She had just bitten her lips and stare out of the window and Kate decided not to say anything.

Ellis and Agent Montrose were still in the conference room, tirelessly looking at security camera footage.

Castle sat in the break room, engrossed in the old case files again. Shaw went to check on the progress on the footage and Alexis and Kate entered the break room.

"Alexis?" asked Castle, confused, and got up.

"Dad" Alexis could not contain her happiness to see her dad after an awful experience earlier. She flew into his arms at an instant. He hugged her tightly and shot Kate a questioning look.

"I picked her up at Bryant Park. She called me. She feared someone had been following her and her friends."

"Tyson!" Castle spat out the name.

"Most likely"

"Why didn't you call me? You should have called me!" Castle said, his allegation hurting her more than anything else.

"Relax Dad" Alexis said, forcing him to look at her. "I wanted Kate to get me and make sure the others were okay first. If this is 3XK and if he was really following us, I can tell it is not about any of them. It's about me. I didn't want you to freak out." The applied 'again' had its desired effect. Castle knew that his daughter was right. He sometimes, just sometimes lost it. When he spied on her through his smartphone. That was ...

Kate shot him an apologetic look and his features softened. He should not be mad at Kate for taking Alexis someplace safe. For taking her directly to the precinct, to him.

"Alexis, can you go over to agents Shaw and Montrose and Detective Ellis? They're gonna show you some of the footage we've collected. Maybe you can identify the person you think followed you? Even if you didn't get a clear shot, you might recognize the movements, habits, something that stood out."

"Sure" said Alexis, turned around and left for the conference room.

"Thank you" Castle said, quietly.

"For what?" Kate asked, coming closer to him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"What's with 'plausible deniability'?" he mumbled, his mouth on her shoulder.

"Screw that, Castle" Kate grinned and he lifted his head, looked her in the eyes and grinned back.

"You're remarkable" he said, placing a soft kiss on her mouth.

"Mhhhhh" was all she could respond.

Someone cleared their throat. Loudly.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks again for reading. Typos and stuff .. just mention them in a message, I'll fix'em asap :)**


	19. Riddles and Revelations

**A/N: I wanna thank WriterLeigh for pointing out that she enjoys writing 3XK as much as I do. It makes me feel better. In some ways. In others, not so much. At least I can promise not to introduce any motorcycle boy - action into my fic. Everyone happy with that? ;-)**

**After she was abducted, I feel like Alexis has a better understanding of her surroundings and in some ways is more careful. Even if her fear isn't supposed to weigh her down, I still feel safety comes first for her.**

**Also: Go and listen to the album by Jon Huertas. Seriously, I love it! "Bartender" is my fav ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 19 - Riddles and Revelations**

_"For what?" Kate asked, coming closer to him, pulling him into a tight hug._

_"What's with 'plausible deniability'?" he mumbled, his mouth on her shoulder._

_"Screw that, Castle" Kate grinned and he lifted his head, looked her in the eyes and grinned back._

_"You're remarkable" he said, placing a soft kiss on her mouth._

_"Mhhhhh" was all she could respond._

_Someone cleared their throat. Loudly._

* * *

When you're in nursery, it is really cute to be engaged to Michael Fishler and to be married to Christopher Rosenbaum at the same time. It is also okay to take your commitments back and when you return after the weekend you intend on making Marty Bennett an honorable man. Your parents will call it cute and will laugh about it. They will - of course! - embarrass you later with re-telling their first-hand encounters with your early attempts at endeavoring into the field of love.

When you're a teenager all this will be at least ten times more complicated than it should be. Starting with little crumbled notes you find in the pockets of your jacket that ask you if you like someone it ultimately ends with being the third wheel when your best friend is dating someone and you are not.

Once you are grown up, happen to be divorced twice, have a child _AND_ actually have a life, things are starting to get awkward.

When your boss (well, technically it isn't your boss, it's her boss, but it doesn't make it any less of a problem) walks in on you kissing your fiancée in her professional work environment and clears her throat _VERY_ loudly, you're in for a lot of trouble. So you think.

Castle and Beckett froze in shock and quickly stepped apart from their very obvious lip-lock, expecting the worst as the person loudly announcing her arrival had been Captain Victoria Gates who still stood in the door of the room. Awaiting all hell to break loose, Castle and Kate exchanged a quick glance that said 'I'll jump in front of you if it gets to bad' and turned towards Kate's superior.

"As long as the two of you haven't made anything official" Gates unexpectedly said "I will have to formally address your behavior as inappropriate. I'll leave it there this time." Castle audibly exhaled which earned him an amused grin from both Gates and Kate.

"Don't worry Mr. Castle. Yet." Gates' smile even widened a little bit more before she got serious again. "Where are we on Jerry Tyson?"

Tying all the loose ends together, Castle summed up what they already knew and Kate added what they suspected 3XK was up to that very day when he presumably followed Alexis through town

"So we can safely say, he's sending all of us a message?" Gates asked, while they went over to the conference room to find out, if Alexis was able to spot anyone on the surveillance footage resembling the person that had followed them.

"It would fit his personality, Sir" Kate responded.

"He likes a good game" added Castle.

"And he is a risk taker, if he really followed Alexis today, he can't have been missed by every camera in the area. Someone must have seen him."

"Sure enough" Gates said. They entered the conference room to find Alexis still sitting with Agent Montrose. The redhead wore the noise canceling headphones she preferred on the subway or the plane.

"How's she doin'?" Castle asked the FBI agent and all could tell, his question was meant twofold.

"She's doin' fine" Agent Montrose responded "she has calmed down very quickly and is eager to help us out in any way that she can." Castle shot his daughter a look that clearly said 'there, that's my girl' and Kate felt a small twinge in her abdomen. She knew the look, she had been on the receiving end of similar looking glances before. They made her insides curl and her bones tingle with anticipation. This piercing glance from his cobalt blue eyes told a million different stories; they had a story for when he was proud of something that she did. They had a certain spark when they were curled up in bed, comfortably resting against each other, whispering promises. But with every of these looks he gave her, she could tell the deep adoration for her.

The only other person she allowed any of these looks was his daughter. And maybe one day their children, too.

Wait! Children? Where did that come from all of the sudden? Kate shook her head in disbelief. Just a few days ago she had flown to Washington D.C., risked her relationship for a job offer that was flattering but not what she wanted and needed. Wasn't it a little quick to already deepen any family planning? Even if it was only in her head? She shoved the thought aside to the very back of her head and directed her attention to Agent Montrose, who had continued talking.

"She said the noise canceling headphones help her focus. Apparently they turn off ambient noises fairly well" the agent explained.

"Do we have a timeline? Common COD's? We're the Medical Examiners able to determine time of death for both victims?" Gates asked.

"I'll call Lan... Dr. Parish to see how far they've gotten" Kate volunteered.

"I'm more than happy to provide lunch for the team again" said Castle, earning appreciative nods from everyone.

"Let's establish a timeline, see how many of these goddamn envelopes we've already gotten..."

"Um, there's already one more" said Kate quietly.

"What, where?" asked Gates.

"My mother found it at her acting school not too long ago." Castle said.

"Hmm" Gates pursed her lips "Let's find out what he is up to, how long the message can possibly get if he's just sending us a sentence." She looked at Agent Montrose and Detective Ellis and both of them nodded.

"And then what we need it to do is to initiate a manhunt. I want every cop in New York to have Jerry Tyson's photo. He's escaped us one time too often, this time I want everyone to be on alert. We owe it to the city and to possible next victims to find and lock away this scumbag."

* * *

"This is the place?" Esposito asked, skeptically.

"Yeah" said Ryan furrowing his brows.

"It's..."

"...colorful?"

"That's one way of describing it."

They got out of their car and walked closer to the entrance of Martha's acting school. The front door was painted in a bright reddish orange signal color that got you blinded if you looked at it for too long. The sign above the door said in bold black letters 'Martha Rodgers School of Acting' and the two detectives knew they had indeed found the address. Ryan knocked loudly and after a short moment the door buzzed open.

The detectives went upstairs and were greeted by the decoration of the staircase: Framed black and white pictures of every role, Martha Rodgers had ever played.

"Her self-adulation becomes apparent with this staircase" Ryan joked.

"It's kinda creepy, bro" answered Esposito.

They entered the little foyer to find an upset redhead surrounded by few remaining acting students.

"Hey Mrs Rodgers" Esposito greeted Castle's mother and waved at her.

"Uh, detective, finally!"

Esposito and Ryan shot each other a look that said 'Finally? We got here as fast as possible. She makes it look like we stopped on our way for donuts. Twice'. Without saying much else, Martha gestured them towards the small counter where the envelope lay.

"I have touched it as I went through the mail" Martha said.

"Don't worry, we'll double-check. Besides, if it is like the last times we've found any of these, there were no prints on them whatsoever." Ryan explained. The detectives quickly said thanks and were almost on their way out again when Esposito blurted out:

"Martha, do you happen to have video surveillance?"

"Yes, I do. Why? Is that important?"

* * *

_**'We need to talk the next steps through. Meeting tonight, 2 a.m. 395'**_

_**Detective Ellis' burner phone buzzed in her pocket. Thankfully it didn't lie on the table for everyone to notice. Especially not with Captain Gates in the same room. Ellis excused herself for the bathroom and left the conference room where Gates, Detective Beckett, Castle and the two FBI agents were still gathered around the footage. The redhead still looked at the surveillance footage.**_

_**Once the door of the stall fell shut behind her, she closed the toilet lid and after a short disgusted look at the floor, she got out her phone and sat down on the toilet. She read the message and typed a reply:  
**_

_**'Can do. Where?'**_

_**As she waited for the replay, she took a look at the walls of the toilet stall. Colorful stickers with different funny messages were glued to the walls, the usual permanent marker abuse and some witty tally sheet rating different male looks and assets. Detective Ellis wasn't surprised to find Ryan (who didn't like that hair?!), Esposito (gotta love some Latino **_**_charm) and Castle (a pretty rich and ruggedly handsome author of mystery novels, seriously, who wouldn't at least think about it?) among the first five._**

**_'Will send address at 1am. You'll have plenty of time to get there. 395.'_**

**_Detective Ellis sighed, switched the phone to silent mode and put it back in her back pocket when she got up tp leave the bathroom._**

* * *

"Okay, Dr. Parish and Dr. Pearlmutter have now confirmed the time of death for both Carol Jennings and Harmony Eddington" said Kate, returning to the conference room. She went to the windows in front of which the murder board was now placed. The black tape was already placed and held blue marks for the moments in which the envelopes were found and small descriptions as well as the set of numbers which belonged to them.

"Carol Jennings was killed between 8am and 9am yesterday morning" said Kate and added the information to the murder board with a red marker.

"She was found by her cleaning lady Mrs Espinoza at 10.30am" added Castle "and she wasn't supposed to be home. It was one of her gym days where she was expected to be from 8am-11am." Kate scribbled this information on the board, too. This time using a green marker.

"So this leaves 3XK 2 1/2 to 1 1/2 hours to kill our victim and leave the building undetected?" Gates asked.

"Pretty much" said Agent Montrose "and he was careful not to use any area in the building that have video surveillance. Of if he did, he blended in so well, that we didn't recognize. At least not with face recognition software."

"This scumbag seldom shows his face" Gates gritted her teeth. Castle shot her a surprised 'I didn't know you had that in you, Sir'-Look and Gates grinned in response.

Kate went back to the information Lanie had just provided her with: "Harmony Eddington was killed around 11am, Pearlmutter established. We got the call around 12.30 so the time frame is even smaller." She noted this information down on the murder board as well.

"That leaves him an hour, Miss Eddington was found at 12.10pm." Agent Shaw said thoughtfully.

"He gets quicker" Detective Ellis said, re-entering the conference room. Everyone nodded in confirmation.

Suddenly, Alexis, who they had almost forgotten in her corner, ripped the in-ear headphones out and squeaked: "There! This man, that's him!"

* * *

**A/N: I need (!) to stop here but I have the next chapter planned out already. I didn't know if I chose the correct vocabulary for my description of the bath room - if it is TOTALLY wrong, help me out? :-) **

**Reviews make my day :-) **


	20. Off-Site Meeting

**A/N: Thanks for your continuous support! I hope you're still enjoying this :-) If you like another very good ( I think ) Post-Watershed Fiction, go ahead and read "Decisions and Dominoes" by Flashpoint33. It's a WIP but worth a go :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 20 - Off-Site Meeting**

_Kate went back to the information Lanie had just provided her with: "Harmony Eddington was killed around 11am, Pearlmutter established. We got the call around 12.30 so the time frame is even smaller." She noted this information down on the murder board as well._

_"That leaves him an hour, Miss Eddington was found at 12.10pm." Agent Shaw said thoughtfully._

_"He gets quicker" Detective Ellis said, re-entering the conference room. Everyone nodded in confirmation._

_Suddenly, Alexis, who they had almost forgotten in her corner, ripped the in-ear headphones out and squeaked: "There! This man, that's him!"_

* * *

In no time they all gathered around Alexis and the smallest of the monitors in front of which she was sitting.

"Okay, Miss Castle, let's see" said Agent Montrose and quietly chatted with the redhead who pointed at a man in a dark blue hoodie and black pants. It looked like he had either very dark hair or was wearing a dark base cap, too. Soon they were all staring at the repetition of the - as of then - unknown persecutor of Alexis.

"Their height could match" said Detective Ellis, comparing the measurements with the old case files and Tyson's passport and driver's license information.

"His movements could, too" said Castle.

"At least he looks like he has something to hide" Gates commented on the careful experienced movements the man made. Hiding behind people, cautious enough not to draw attention from anyone. So far none of the other pedestrians had looked at him for too long or had turned. The man merged with the crowd and they would all bet that none of the bystanders would have noticed him or would be able to describe him.

"Overall, he has been pretty quick" said Agent Shaw "he has quickened the pace between the murders, two victims in two days. Logically, that would mean that he'd have to kill again tomorrow. If ... because we don't know this for sure, if he followed Alexis Castle today, then we have to make sure she is safe. Even if, and that is just my theory, he doesn't mean no harm for her. It also means that we have to initiate a manhunt in the hope the public attention slows him down again."

Gates nodded approvingly and the rest of the investigators looked convinced, too.

"Wait" interrupted Alexis "how can you be sure he doesn't intend to kill me, too?"

"Pumpkin" started Castle but Kate cut him off.

"Maybe this is nothing that should be discussed with an audience?" Kate gestured towards Agent Shaw and the FBI agent understood the hint. Shaw asked Alexis if she wanted a cup of tea. Both left the room for the break room watering hole aka. coffee machine and the kettle.

"How about we finish this timeline. In the meantime, I'll have his photo circulated. Every cop in New York City needs to know that he is alive and that he is out thee. I'll speak to the DA, there needs to be a way to declare him alive. The positive match with the face recognition software should suffice for that. The DA will not be pleasantly surprised, though." Gates said.

"Who could blame him?" asked Castle bitterly.

"Oh, Mr. Castle, be assured that the police of New York City will do its utmost to find Jerry Tyson. I'm not gonna let him off the hook this time, and neither does anyone in this room" the Captain said and all of them nodded fiercely. She excused himself to her office for some phone calls and Castle remembered that he had promised to be responsible for their physical well-being and took orders. He, too, got out of the room to make some phone calls. And to check on Agent Shaw and Alexis in the break room.

That left Kate, Agent Montrose and Detective Ellis behind. "Where are we on the envelopes?" asked Beckett, her tone all businesslike.

"Detective Ryan mentioned him being surprised by the expensiveness of wedding invitations..." Ellis started.

"Oh yeah, I remember it! He was fuming when Jenny told him how expensive they were" Beckett laughed at the memory.

"Exactly" smiled Ellis and went on "so we were able to narrow it down to seven more exquisite stores who sell wedding invitations and customize them the way it was done with the ones we've found. This is not covering the possibility that he might have gotten them from a place outside of the city."

"Nah, he wouldn't use external shops" contradicted Kate "he likes a good bait. Even if it's just something simple as a stationary store that specializes on custom-made invitations. He likes to rub it in, likes to show us that he had been there all along, under our noses. That's how he likes it the most. When we're finally able to find the shop he'd used, it's most likely that he has ordered all of them in advance. Maybe even in a short advance. But there is no need to return to the shop again for more, he's pre-planned the whole thing."

"You could be right" said Agent Montrose, furiously typing away on his keyboard "and it will only mean that if we pulled any surveillance footage from the shops and from their surroundings, that he's on there..."

"... and nothing else" Kate concluded.

"Another dead end, then?"

"Not completely" said Kate, a thought occurring to her "we could find out how many invitations he ordered."

"Which would give us the word count for the sentence in advance..." added Ellis.

"Correct."

* * *

"I am confused" Alexis said, taking a first careful sip from her steaming chamomile tea.

"And that's perfectly okay" said the older woman and closed the break room door. She sat down opposite to Alexis and looked the younger woman in the eyes from where confusion, fear but also determination was reflected back to her. "It is really scary when a person like Jerry Tyson repeatedly interferes with one's life. He is disturbed, a serial killer. You have every right to freak out, Alexis."

"I'm not really freaked out, though" began the redhead and sighed. She tried to take another sip from her tea but it was still too hot to drink. "It's just, with all that's happened to me recently, I just don't know who I can trust anymore. I don't wanna let fear weigh me down but it's really hard."

"It's at least not easy, I'll give you that" Agent Shaw said, reassuringly.

"Everybody seems to convinced that 3XK doesn't want to harm me, Agent Shaw, but how can you all be so sure?" Alexis asked, remnants of fear still apparent in her voice.

"Well, Alexis, we think that for a deranged person like Jerry Tyson is, harming you would be too easy, the obvious target. He has started a game. He wants us to find the breadcrumbs and follow them basically anywhere he goes. There is a part of him that wants to be found. The bigger this part is..."

"... the easier you'll find him, eventually?"

"Eventually, yes." Agent Shaw responded, taking a sip from her coffee.

"I'm just worried" said Alexis "that this is going to mess with our heads, you know? We've been through a lot. I understand that Kate's job is predestined for any kind of dangerous situation. Having my dad with her here, everyday, it made me anxious at first. But then I saw how protective they are of each other. He would gladly have taken a bullet for her, just recently, he waited by her side while she stood on a bomb, I mean who does that for someone else?"

"Just a few people would do that" Agent Shaw said quietly.

"See? I just don't want this to intrude our life again. Dad and Kate have so many things to get sorted since they got enga..." Alexis stopped mid-sentence, mouth agape. Ooops, she wasn't supposed to have said any of this. What now? But Agent Shaw just smiled. Whatever the two of them didn't think they had back then, they had had. Still had. Apparently, they knew now, too.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna say a thing" the FBI agent smirked and Alexis suddenly felt better about her slip up. Her tea was finally cold enough to drink it and the redhead gulped down quite a bit. There was a knock on the door and after a few seconds Castle peeked in.

"What am I interrupting?" he joked, squinting his eyes as if he didn't want to spy on deep, dark FBI secrets.

"Come on in, dad" said Alexis, inviting him in.

"Are you okay with pizza and salads, Agent Shaw?" he asked.

"That will be just fine" she responded. Her phone beeped and she excused herself. This left Alexis and Castle alone in the quiet break room.

"Are you alright, Alexis?"

"I'm better" replied the redhead.

"We're gonna find him"

"You better" she smirked. "I'm just worried about you guys."

"Wait, Alexis, you're worried about us? You mean, Kate and I?" Castle asked. He knew that Alexis had always been fond of Kate until those fatal months in which she was hiding out in her father's cabin and had left him hanging. Seeing him in the state he had been in, wasn't something she intended to going back to. He knew that all too well.

"Yeah, I am ... you've been through a lot recently. This whole mess with Mr. Fantastic..." Castle couldn't help but cringe again at the thought of the handsome - yeah, you'd have to admit at least that - charmer who had gotten into Kate's head to easily. "... and you guys seemingly drifting apart ... you know I've always defended Kate's loyalty to you, Dad, you know I have because I've seen how she is around you. She even seems more alive when she is, happy. But I actually think you shouldn't let her off the hook too easily. She isn't even wearing the ring ..."

Alexis' serious tone caught him off guard. He had always known how serious his daughter cold be and the stern look she gave him in this very moment proved it once again. Sometimes he forgot how smart his kid was. This was one of these occasions.

"I sometimes forget how smart you are, kid" he said, smiling. His mother had given him precious pieces of advice in the past, allowing him insights into Kate's thinking only perceptible for another woman. It allowed him to finally understand back then that he hadn't come back for the books anymore.

"It's scary, isn't it?" she shot him a somewhat vicious smile only to let her features soften directly after.

"Even though I feel like an outsider sometimes ..." Castle pouted "... come on Dad, I am now that I live on campus. What I was saying is this, even though I feel like an outsider sometimes, I see how happy you guys are. Don't let anyone or anything ruin this. Ever. And I don't necessarily mean this weirdo following me around town. But don't let her off the hook too easily. You both have to prove to each other how serious you are. Starting basically yesterday, Dad."

"Oh man" he sighed "now the kid got wise, too!"

* * *

Ryan and Esposito made their way back to the precinct eventually. They looked a little bit disheveled when they got back and Ryan cursed under his breath; something that suspiciously sounded like 'damn traffic'. Or even worse.

"Just in time for one big order of pizza!" Castle exclaimed happily.

"Terrific Nick?"

"Authentic Terrific Nick?"

"Terrific Authentic Nick?"

"No Nick at all?"

"Vesuvio. Seriously, as if I ever set a foot in one of these establishments" Castle snorted in disgust. The letter Martha had found in her acting school was speedily processed while they were devouring lunch. That gave them another set of numbers, another word.

968 - 9668 - 23 - 2253

YOU - WONT - BE - ABLE

"Able to what?" asked Castle.

"... to find me?" suggested Esposito.

"... to kill me?" was Ryan's idea and Castle cringed at the recollection of their last attempt to kill Jerry Tyson.

"Whatever it is, it's got some more words and some more envelopes for us to find" said Agent Shaw and everyone looked sheepishly. The manhunt had been initiated by Gates in the meantime and every cop in New York City was on the lookout for Jerry Tyson, now officially back from the dead. The public had been warned, too. They all hoped it would slow his killing down and give them the chance to find him.

* * *

They left the precinct at about 7.30pm after a productive day. Alexis had made use of her stay (naturally, Castle didn't want to let her out of his sight) by helping with the dreaded paperwork other detectives still fought against. Some past cases had the folders piled up sky-high and especially Karpowski was thankful and soon started calling Alexis 'the paperwork angel sent from heaven'.

They were able to narrow the stores down to two, both of which were already closed for the day. Ryan and Esposito volunteered to visit them first thing in the morning so not much was left for them to do. Kate had promised Lanie to attend her girl's night out, which would probably just be a girl's night in on Lanie's couch. Seven urgent text messages had reminded Kate throughout the day that she had promised to come. Kate answered the last of them all with 'Don't worry, Lanie, I'll come." Naturally, this caused a discussion in the car on their way back to Castle's loft.

With a raised eyebrow Castle asked: "Girl's night out, Beckett? Really?"

"Yeah, Castle?" she responded "what is wrong about that?"

"Nothin'" he said "I was just hoping you'd be home tonight." He shot her a longing look that instantly had her insides curl with anticipation.

"Eww Dad, I am still here?" Alexis made them aware of the fact that she was riding the town car, too.

"Sorry" Castle whispered, taking Kate's hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "I'm just disappointed she's not gonna be with us tonight." Naturally, Castle had also insisted on Alexis temporarily moving back into the loft as long as the case wasn't done. A patrol car regularly passed by the loft, Gates had insisted on the additional security which Castle's overprotective mind gladly accepted.

"I promised, Castle" Kate whispered back.

"I know" he said "will you be back later tonight?" He looked hopeful.

"Mhhh, maybe" she said, not very decisive. He growled at her and she smiled at him with the breathtaking smile she only reserved for him. And he knew, she would sneak into the loft in the wee hours of the morning if she had to. And he wanted her to. She knew.

* * *

"I love it when you dress up, I really do" said Castle, complementing the view in front of him. Kate was wearing a black flowing chiffon neck holder dress. It had a straight but narrow vertical cut right above her breasts, which teased but did not actually reveal anything. When she walked up and down the bedroom to retrieve the various items she needed (needed?) in her purse, he sometimes caught a glimpse of the glistening engagement ring on her chain. The small braided band that held the dress into place glistened with the small golden threads weaved into it. She wore her hair down in soft curls, one side slightly pinned back by a golden clip.

"Petrol pumps or ...?"

"Go for the red ones" he suggested, admiring her looks.

"Red? Seriously?"

"Yeah, Kate, they're sexy!" She shot him a 'oh, really?' look and he chuckled.

"I'll be back before you have time to miss me. Besides, there is still this chapter due, I recall?" she teased him.

"Right..." She slipped into the red pumps, grabbed her small black purse and after checking she had her keys, phone and her lipstick and was ready to go. "Castle! Stop pouting! I mean it!"

"Move in with me" he blurted out.

* * *

_**1.30am - The dark alleyway was deserted and Ellis swore she had just seen a rat behind a dumpster. The moon barely lit her surroundings and the only streetlamp she was able to spot must have quit its service years ago judging from its condition. She shivered. It felt cold all of the sudden. She pulled her brown leather jacked closer around her body and stood there, waiting.**_

_**"You made it" a voice said. Slowly, he stepped out of the shadow in which he had been hiding. He wore dark clothes, a dark blue denim jeans, a dark blue hoodie and a base cap. He smiled cruelly but somewhat affectionately at the detective and slowly closed the distance between them. With a audible sigh she fell into his arms. She was more than relieved to see him.**_

_**"You're doing well" he complimented her quietly. She looked at him, hopeful. **_

_**"Really?" **_

_**"Really" he said in confirmation and tugged her closer again. They stood there for a couple of moments until he gestured her back into the shadows. Even though the alley was barely moon-lit, he felt more secure standing in the shadows.**_

_**"I've missed you" she confessed and touched the stubble on his chin tenderly. He didn't answer. He never did, still she could tell that deep down below he was very fond of her.**_

_**"So, how far have they gotten?" he asked, businesslike.**_

_**"They found the fourth letter you dropped at the acting school."**_

_**"Ah, yes" he **_**_remembered, grinning. "Are they looking for me, yet? Officially?"_**

**_"Yeah" she pressed the words through her teeth "every cop in New York City was alerted that you're alive. I've even seen it on the screens riding the metro."_**

**_"So I made evening news?" he grinned._**

**_"Apparently" she said, somewhat proudly._**

**_"Have they found anything interesting?"_**

**_"Only that you followed Alexis Castle today" she said, distancing herself slightly from him to look him into the eyes. "Was that your take on 'having a little more fun with it?'"_**

**_"Maybe" he answered, pulling her closer again._**

**_"You're sick." she said, indecisive if she meant it _****_accusingly or admiringly._**

**_"You knew that all too well, Tori, didn't you?" _**

**_"Yeah, I guess I did" she said, nestling back up against him. They were doing just fine. The plan flowed nicely, he enjoyed playing the game with his favorite pawns. All the planning he had invested in staging his death had been ruined by a suspicious Richard Castle who hadn't actually believed he was dead. This had set his mind spinning. He couldn't stand that his plan had failed, that they didn't believe he actually went down and died in that river. He had to find out what gave him away, what caused Richard Castle to doubt him. That's why he was playing a different game now. Hunting outside his comfort zone, outside his preferences. Redheads, not blondes. Riddles, not clues._**

**_"Is everything else set up?" he asked her and she just nodded. Like last time when he needed her, she was there. Shutting down the surveillance of the precinct, quietly waiting at the rear entrance of the precinct, letting him slip into the cell block unnoticed and back out onto the street without anyone noticing until he had been gone again.  
_**

* * *

**A/N: You hate me already? No? Please leave a review on your way out, will you? :-)**

**I've made this piece longer, as requested. Don't worry, the Girl's night out / in ... will be featured in the next chapter.**


	21. Brutally Honest

**A/N: Since 'Probable Cause' aired I had always been wondering who did the inside job - because, even if Jerry Tyson is very intelligent (which I honestly think) I don't think he had it in him to manipulate the whole station's security systems. He had to have help. And who said it wasn't actually a cop? So that's my spin on it ;) I hope the story is still something you guys can enjoy :-) Enjoy the next piece of the puzzle!**

**P.S. Terri Edda Miller is back writing for Castle FULL-TIME. This made me tear up. I love this! Bless her! It's all gonna be good. **

* * *

**Chapter 21 - Brutally Honest**

_"I'll be back before you have time to miss me. Besides, there is still this chapter due, I recall?" she teased him._

_"Right..." She slipped into the red pumps, grabbed her small black purse and after checking she had her keys, phone and her lipstick and was ready to go. "Castle! Stop pouting! I mean it!"_

_"Move in with me" he blurted out._

_*******  
_  
_"Is everything else set up?" he asked her and she just nodded. Like last time when he needed her, she was there. Shutting down the surveillance of the precinct, quietly waiting at the rear entrance of the precinct, letting him slip into the cell block unnoticed and back out onto the street without anyone noticing until he had been gone again.  
_

* * *

Castle had asked her to go to Lanie's by his preferred car service and he had called to request a specially trained second person to ride with her and the driver. Kate hadn't actually known such a service existed but had not commented on the matter, anyways. If he was satisfied this way, knowing that there was someone watching over her and it relaxed him, she would endure it. Although she was probably able to defend herself pretty well. Given the small can of pepper spray in her purse and the holstered gun ... somewhere ... not many people possibly stood a chance against her. The ride was smooth and soon enough the driver brought the car to a standstill and cleared his throat.

"Miss Beckett?" he asked, turning around to face her. Beckett had once again let her mind wander towards the events of the recent days, mainly focussing on the last request Castle had blurted out. 'Move in with me' - similarly intimate and somewhat plain, he had just said it right there and then, without thinking too much, she assumed. It was the logical next step, wasn't it? Moving in with the man she loved? Diving in together, as she had once put it. Why wasn't she afraid Normally, she would have bolted right out of the door as things got too seriously. Then again, she had organized the 'best birthday gift of his life' just a few months back which clearly proved how deep she was already in with this man. So no, no need to be afraid.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"We've arrived" the driver informed her. She gathered her purse and prepared to climb out of the car. Her security guard had already gotten out of the car and opened the door for her. He even offered his arm for her to lean on. 'Castle sure knows how to select the politest guards possible' she thought and suppressed a snort. Her guard escorted her to the entrance of Lanie's building and Kate rang the bell. The door was buzzed open and the detective slipped inside the building. She knew the car would wait for her to return or for them to go out for drinks. She shook her head at the maneuver Castle pulled with that but she caved in again. No need to get worked up over his overprotective mind. He'd always been like this with the people he loved. She now was one of those people.

She rode the elevator to Lanie's floor and a very pleased Lanie Parish opened the door for her "9pm sharp, Kate Beckett, I never..."

"Stop it Lanie" Kate said and Lanie gestured her in, closing the door behind her. She took a good look at her girlfriend, admiring her outfit. "Let me guess, Castle chose the heels?!" Kate's face reddened.

"Yeah, he did. He said they were sexy..."

"Uh huuuh" said Lanie and they went to the living room where Lanie poured them each a glass of wine. Kate went ahead and sat down on Lanie's wide and comfortable chair. She accepted the glass of wine and after Lanie sat down, a short moment of awkward silence fell upon them. It was Lanie who broke it.

"You're still not wearing it?" clearly referring to the ring. Which was hidden. Under chiffon fabric. And work blazers. And t-shirts.

"Like I said, Lanie, I do it at home."

"Now spill, sister, did you move in?"

"No I didn't" Kate answered and she could tell that Lanie was about to complain about her making things too complicated and added "but he asked me to." Lanie's squeal was loud. Too loud.

"I am so happy for you, Kate, this is fantastic news." Lanie said, taking a sip from her wine.

"Thanks" Kate mimicked Lanie's action and drank some wine, too.

"And you're okay with that, Kate?" Lanie looked her directly in the eyes, trying to find any signs of fear or doubt in her friend's face.

"Yes" Kate answered simply.

"That's good, because you were broken. Damaged goods. Oh no, don't try to deny it, both know it is true. You both have come so far! Once you let him have you, he's been ..." Lanie searched for words "... different. When he was waiting for you, you didn't see the guy with one girl on either arm too much. I remember that I asked you if you had a clue why that was. And if it was a big secret that you had a crush on him for aaaaaages" Lanie dragged out the word and Kate blushed. "I just didn't understand why you didn't believe that he actually waited. Why else did you think was he still tagging along?"

"As my plucky sidekick" Kate said, remembering the occasion she had called him that.

"He loved you Kate. All this time. I don't think he was way back when he first met you, Kate, but he was intrigued all along. He wanted to find out who you were, not stopping for anything. Not even for personal requests that came from you. He's always been there, waiting. And he's always let you off the hook so easily, when you'd think he'd be mad for weeks to come. Now why do you think is that?"

Kate just looked at Lanie waiting for an explanation because quite frankly, she didn't have a clue.

"Honey, he didn't want to push you too hard. Every time he pushed, you pushed him away so _HARD_. Yet, he came back. He always came back. The other day you told me that you guys don't talk about the big stuff Kate, and even if that might have changed in the meantime ..." Kate shifted her weight and Lanie spotted the sparkling engagement ring peeking through the black dress that Kate wore "... he still let you off the hook too easily. When this super creepy reporter threw herself at him you were mad at him for weeks! _Weeks_, Kate! And now this super interesting, super charming, conveniently rich entrepreneur comes along and you allow the man to kiss you and Castle lets you off the hook again?"

Kate let her friend's words sink in. It was true. He had made it way to easy for her. He shouldn't have forgiven him, not for the almost-kiss that happened with Vaughn, but also for her not telling him about the flight to Washington D.C. - he had made it too easy.

"But why would he do that?" she asked, confused.

"Maybe, just maybe ... he is afraid you're going back to having one foot out of the door again?"

"But Lanie ..."

"I know, I know ..." Lanie raised both hands in defense "but Kate, seriously? Your thoughts have been all over the place but not with him after this Vaughn thing happened. Your actions were confusing, even to me as your best friend. I didn't understand why the job opportunity suddenly meant more to you than the thing you've got going on with Castle. I had never thought you would be the person pushing this relationship forward, Kate, because I might have actually expected you to run again. And you nearly did."

Kate hung her head. Lanie was totally right and it was her job as the best friend to address these things.

"Aren't you sick of running?"

"Yes, Lanie! I am so sick of running and I am _SO_ glad that he didn't break up when we met at the swings." Kate said, determination and then sadness coating her voice. "He had every right to do so, you know? I chose not to tell him important things, Lanie, important things about my future. There, that's what I said, too. I said '_my_' future. He had every right to walk out of my apartment when he found out. I was even too selfish to tell him, he had to find my plane ticket to find out. Why do I always do this, Lanie?"

"Because it is what you've always done." Lanie said and scooted closer towards Kate. She stretched her hand out and softly patted Kate's arm. "It's what you did to protect yourself. Whenever things got too serious, you bolted straight out of the door. It's different with him, though, and I bet you knew that. That's why you broke up with Josh..." Kate opened her mouth to say something but Lanie's stern look shut her up. "... you wanted to be with him, even before that. You were just afraid. In some ways, you still are. But you cannot hide behind that anymore. You can't say that things are complicated because they're really not! He loves you, you love him. You're together, you're engaged. Still, you're the same people you've always been and I can guarantee it'll drive you nuts!" Kate just nodded, remembering the night in which Castle snuck out of their bedroom in the middle of the night to go rear window.

"It's not gonna be easy, Kate, I never would have assumed anything else than a roller coaster ride with the two of you" Lanie went on "but it is far from being complicated. So, what do you want to do?"

"Umm."

"And don't tell me no dirty thoughts have invaded your mind right now!" Lanie said and winked.

"Lanie!"

"What?"

"I was thinking that I should actually make amends to Castle..." Lanie wiggled her eyebrows. "... not these kinds of amends, Lanie, oh wow!"

Kate laughed. She hadn't had a good, heartfelt laugh in a while. One of these laughs you could only share with a girlfriend, someone who could relate to you like no one else could. It felt good, liberating even.

"You're right, Lanie. I was being selfish and I need to make it up to him. He shouldn't let me off the hook too easily. I won't run. I've only done a poor job proving this to him before." Lanie nodded in confirmation.

"How exactly are you going to make it up to him, Kate?" Lanie asked nonetheless, wearing a devilish smile on her face.

"Seriously? That's the best you're coming up with when it comes to get crucial information out of me? This must be the reason you've become an M.E." Kate mocked her and felt Lanie hit her arm lightly.

"It's not my fault you don't provide me with the juicy details, Kate! Maybe I'll get you tipsy tonight and you'll tell me anyways. Or do you have other places to be?" she winked again and Kate's blush intensified.

"Judging from the heavy blush on your cheeks, darling, I think I don't need any more answers."

* * *

Later the same night the car service dropped Kate off at Castle's building.

Lanie and Kate had gotten to a bar nearby Lanie's apartment, accompanied by the broad-shouldered security guard. Lanie giggled the whole way there and couldn't even stop when the stoically calm man - his name was Magnus and he was from Sweden, Lanie found out after some thorough questioning / after she annoyed him so much that he actually started to answer.

They only had two drinks each before Kate started to repeatedly lift her left wrist to glance at her father's watch. She longed to be back at the loft, her soon-to-be home, with her fiancée, feeling the warmth radiating from his body, hearing his soft snore (He could never know that she knew...) and cuddling up against him under the soft, expensive blankets. Eventually waking him up and ...

Lanie had examined Kate's reactions for exactly fifteen minutes before she said "Fine, just ... go home!"

Kate looked slightly taken aback but then tried to figure out if Lanie was annoyed or mad that Kate desperately wanted to be home. "I'm not mad, Kate, let's get out of here!"

They had paid and after the driver dropped Lanie off at her apartment building, he headed straight for Castle's Broome Street address. The ride on the elevator seemed to take longer than it normally took and Kate got impatient. Her fingers drummed against the wall of the elevator. She fumbled for her keys, put the right one in the lock and quietly opened the door. She took off her heels and put them in one hand. After closing the door and locking it from the inside, Kate tiptoed towards the bedroom. Careful not to disturb Castle's sleep, she went into the bathroom, removed her makeup, quickly brushed through her hair and put on a pretty chemise. The obligatory four minute teeth brush 'n floss routine followed and soon after that she slipped under the covers to find Castle fast asleep.

She pressed her nose into his back, breathing in his unique scent. This was where she belonged. By his side and nowhere else. She needed to prove it to him for the rest of their lives, starting now. It was her turn to peel off the layers of the Castle-onion now. Together they would be able to look at each other's flaws and take them as what they were - things that made them special, unique. Not damaged goods or complicated. Just unique.

Castle stirred in his sleep and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Hmmm?" she hummed, gently caressing his neck and upper back.

"You move in?" he mumbled.

"Yes, Castle. Yes, I move in." Instantly, Castle was awake, triggered by the determination in his voice and the positive answer she had given him. He turned towards her and said "That's the coolest thing you ever did for me, Kate!"

"You mean, apart from your perfect birthday present and me not saying 'no' to your proposal?"

"Well, you haven't officially said 'yes'" again, her mouth opened to contradict but he silenced her with a passionate kiss "and I don't want you to do it because you feel obliged to. You'll come around to doing it. Until then, I know that you're gonna say it anyways. So, surprise me."

"Really, Castle?" she said, an eyebrow raised - which he couldn't see in the dark bedroom "You're letting me off the hook ... again?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, sleep still clouding his senses and thinking.

"Push me. Push me to do it. Confront me with yet another bed full of roses. Have the whole loft filled with candles if you must. I think I am done running. I'm done being afraid. Screw Tyson, I am not afraid of him, either. As long as I don't lose you, as we don't lose us, there's nothing that can scare me. So you might as well push me, Rick, because I can take it. Two feet inside the door. No cold feet. No running."

He looked at her in wonder. The moon lit the room in a pale light and her eyes sparkled with determination ... and with love. She took his breath away. Literally every time but this time it was even more than that.

"Don't think that I would run if you talked about the future, Castle. We can do this now. I'm ready to start it as soon as we've found Tyson. When he's defeated, we're gonna celebrate life. And us."

She reached behind her to feel around for the clasp of her necklace, unclasped it and detached her engagement ring from it. She put the necklace down on her bedside table, took a deep breath and slid the ring on her finger where it would find a permanent home. Castle beamed and slowly took her hand, guiding it to his lips and pressing a soft his on her now adorned hand.

"You make me so happy" he whispered, his voice full of love and hope.

"I love you"

There, she had said it and it felt so right to say it. He still looked at her in wonder. Since he didn't look as if he was able to move anytime soon, Kate closed the distance between them and sealed the deal with a loving kiss. They spent the night re-discovering each other, whispering promises and kissing. Lots of kissing.

* * *

_**They said goodbye two hours later and Tori Ellis was on her way back to her small dwelling. She missed him already and given the risks that he was taking, she might lose him for good, soon. But only after she had done her most to prevent this from happening.  
**_

* * *

**A/N: I snuck a Stana quote in there at the end. See? Hehe. How did you like it? Maybe leave a review? This is the second chapter in a day, I think I deserve some? Yeah? ;-)**


	22. Is that the moral to the Story?

**A/N: Awww, thanks for the kind reviews, guys. I read every single one of them and it's really sweet of you guys to comment on my work of fiction. I'll provide you guys with a little timeline sketch I did so that you can 'see' the murder board more easily for the cases. I'll link it in the next chapter.**

**The Stana quote? Watch their Paleyfest appearance to find out ;-) And now, let's do this!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 22 - Is that the moral to the Story?**

_"Don't think that I would run if you talked about the future, Castle. We can do this now. I'm ready to start it as soon as we've found Tyson. When he's defeated, we're gonna celebrate life. And us."_

_She reached behind her to feel around for the clasp of her necklace, unclasped it and detached her engagement ring from it. She put the necklace down on her bedside table, took a deep breath and slid the ring on her finger where it would find a permanent home. Castle beamed and slowly took her hand, guiding it to his lips and pressing a soft his on her now adorned hand._

_"You make me so happy" he whispered, his voice full of love and hope._

_"I love you"  
_

* * *

The ring felt heavier the closer Kate got to the precinct the next morning and her instincts kicked in. It wasn't Alice in chains, it was Kate in chains. She fought her old me back where it belonged. In a corner of her consciousness, maybe sometimes peeking out for air but never allowed control over her life again.

"Is it weighing you down already?" Castle said, clearly fully aware of her struggle.

"A little bit" she admitted and looked directly into his eyes "but nothing I cannot handle. Thanks for pushing me, though."

"Oh don't thank me just yet." Castle said. She grinned in response.

"So, how are you planning on telling them?" he asked, curious.

"Well, Lanie knows. She lovingly calls the ring 'Kate's little rock'. Esposito ... let's just say he has a very distinctive idea of what's going on. Gates ... well, Gates is still in denial about basically everything but I think I should deal with her first. And Ryan ..."

"... is completely clueless? This is awesome!" he beamed, several thoughts on his mind on how to torture the seemingly innocent Ryan a little bit.

"Given that he was the first to discover the identity of your new boyfriend, this is rather surprising" he winked at her and she suppressed a chuckle.

They stepped into their regular coffee and bear claw place and Castle decided to get coffee for Ryan, Esposito, Shaw and Montrose, too. He lingered at the counter and Kate wondered what he was up to. Normally, he knew what to order. Castle turned around to her and said quietly: "What kind of coffee does Gates drink, you reckon?"

* * *

Ryan and Esposito were already at store number two, after the other address turned out to be closed down for renovations. They quickly got to speak to the owner who was coordinating the renovations and was obviously pretty annoyed. He was a grumpy elderly man who showed a striking similarity to Pearlmutter when he spoke, who didn't recall any recent customer with the specific wishes that the detectives mentioned. So they headed for the second address without further ado.

The owner, a lady in her forties, remembered her customer all too well. "Yeah, this weirdo. He looked suspicious. He was very specific about what he wanted and how fast he needed it - when I turned on the news this morning, I was gonna call the police anyways..."

Ryan and Esposito shot each other a knowing look.

"Because the weirdo was on the news. A sick murderer, I had a sick murderer in my little shop?" she started to get somewhat agitated by the thought of how close she had come to a dangerous serial killer.

"Seems like it" Ryan said nonchalantly, "but be rest-assured, we don't believe you to be in any kind of danger."

"How can you be so sure of that?" she bellowed, not believing the two detectives. At all. "He came into my shop and bought ordered something. Something specific. He came back to pick it up some hours later. What makes you think, Starsky and Hutch, that he ain't comin' back again?"

"We're sure" Esposito said, clearly amused. She didn't take that too well.

"How can you be so sure about that, mister, this man obviously has problems. I mean, you can be a fan, but ordering wedding invitations for quite a famous author when he hasn't gone public ... that's weird."

"Let me guess" Ryan cut in "you're registered with Richard Castle's website?"

"I'm regis... of _course_ I am! He is my favorite author of all times!"

"Tell you what, you give us whatever little detail you remember about the order Jerry Tyson made with your store" said Esposito and then smiled broadly "and we'll ask Richard Castle to drop by your store some time. Deal?"

Her smile was brilliant. She let her assistant take over the shop and invited the detectives into her office to a cup of coffee. That could take longer. Probably.

* * *

Ryan and Esposito returned to the precinct one and a half hours later. The show owner hadn't wanted to let them go. They had, nevertheless, obtained interesting information they wanted to share with Beckett and Castle. Him they found sitting at Beckett's desk, actually in her very place. That was new. When had she started allowing that? And where was Beckett?

Ryan glanced over to Gates' office and saw that the door was closed and a tall, brunette woman paced inside, gesturing heavily with her hands. Looked like he had found her.

"Hey Castle" he said and the writer flinched "where's Beckett?"

"In there" Castle responded, glancing over to Gates' office.

"How long has she been in there?" asked Esposito, somewhat worried about Beckett's frequent visits to their superior's office. Especially with the door shut this smelled like trouble.

"About fifteen minutes."

"That long, eh?" Castle just shrugged his shoulders.

"Shaw already in?" Ryan asked and Castle nodded "Conference room with this suited-up Zuckerberg person."

"Good, we have news!"Ryan waved with his notepad.

"Uh, ye goode olde notepad" teased Castle, who obviously was all into the age of internet communication and apps that made your live worthwhile. Not that life hadn't been interesting enough without the 'gadgets'.

Ryan and Esposito went ahead and got into the conference room, followed by Castle and two coffee cups. He wordlessly handed them the cups with their respective names. Ryan's had a little flower next to 'Kevin'.

"You might wanna re-heat them, but I guarantee you, the coffee is still gonna taste brilliantly!"

"You brought us coffee?" Esposito jokes.

"Yeah Castle" Ryan added "we're touched!"

"_WE_ brought you coffee" Castle put the matter straight with emphasis on the collective decision.

* * *

"I am glad you told me, Detective." Gates concluded their conversation. "I won't be able to maintain plausible deniability now but that's perfectly fine. Mr. Castle is no member of the New York Police - even if he is regarded as a colleague by most of us."

Kate couldn't help but grin at the obvious '_still not a fan_' hint her captain had just dropped. "So how do you suggest we proceed?" Kate asked.

"I take it he spoke to you about the suggestion I made regarding a gun license?"

"Yes, Sir, he did."

„I'd say he gets it and other than that I'll stick to my previous statement. As long as you act professionally around my precinct, I can still have him around. In fact, even if I don't like to admit it..." Kate shot her a questioning look "... he has proved to be a valuable member of this team, even if he is not a member of the police."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Oh, don't thank me just yet, detective." Why kept everyone saying this to her today?

"I'll see that I keep him in check" Kate grinned and the response smile from her superior quickly told her that Victoria Gates highly doubted that this was possible. To be honest, Kate doubted it, too.

* * *

Kate closed the door to the Captain's office behind her and let out a sigh of relief. Even after the events around the Fosse bomb and Gates' plausible deniability statement, she was still somewhat thrilled that her superior officer took her relationship with Castle so ... lightly? No, that was not what this was. Her boss took it ... she trusted them. Trusted them to not mess it up, trusted them to be professionals. Come to think of it, this wasn't something Kate would have considered likely just a few weeks ago, yet it happened. After her boss' statement about not thinking of her as an idiot, Kate suspected that Gates had known about the relationship for longer than anyone knew.

She scanned the room for her team, seeing none of them. Kate figured they must have gone to the break room. If Ryan and Esposito had managed to escape the talkative lady from the second stationary store they had visited this morning. Ryan's exasperated text between a sip of a very bad coffee and a bite of an even worse cookie (his description being: Martha Rodgers bakes better -.- ).

Kate entered the conference room and was greeted by her boy... fiancée and her colleagues as well as agents Shaw and Montrose. "Anything new?" she asked, taking in the modified murder board.

"Check this out" Esposito said, "we spoke to the owner of the stationary shop 'Permanent Paper Plans" this morning. According to her, Jerry came in just a couple of days ago."

"On Tuesday to be specific" added Ryan and skimmed through the notes on his notepad. Castle and Kate looked at each other and the inexplicable connection they had when a piece of information rung some sort of invisible bell worked its magic again.

"That's the day..."

"... you called me to meet you..."

"... on the swings..."

"... to ..." Castle looked at Kate, unsure what to say next.

"...talk!" she finished the sentence and looked at him, triumphantly. It was just then that Castle realized that she carefully hid her beringed hand. 'Oh no, Beckett, not like this!' he thought and challenged himself to make her reveal the secret soon.

"Right" he continued, seemingly unimpressed "and if he saw us ... talk..."

"... then he knew he could proceed."

"Wait!" interjected Ryan, seemingly connecting the puzzle pieces.

"Wait, what?" asked Castle, pretending to be confused.

"Oh, never mind" said Ryan, lost in his own thoughts.

"How many invitations did he order?" Agent Shaw asked.

"He ordered seven invitations with seven different names on the accompanying envelopes" Esposito responded "and it even gets better."

"Yeah?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, because we now know whose names are left."

* * *

_**After only a few hours of sleep, Tori Ellis had gotten up late. She felt like sleep didn't revitalize her anymore. At least not in the present situation. She slowly got off the bed and looked at her watch. Almost 11am. Time to get ready. Her shift started at 1pm and she was nowhere near being fully awake. She yawned and stretched. After that she tiptoed into the bathroom and took a look in the mirror. **_

_**The circles under her eyes were even more visible than before due to her continuous lack of sleep, her nightly observations of the Castle family and the meetings with HIM. She perfectly recalled the night they met.**_

_**It ha been a stormy night in pub which was in a bad state but cozy. He had sat at a table in a dark corner, his voice just a whisper to the waitress who just occasionally went past him.**_

_**Tori had been stationed at Rochester for almost two years back then. She was a rookie on the road but an expert in computer science with a degree from MIT and a quick thinking mind. Her almost eidetic memory made her studies very easy for her and after graduating she was offered a position with the Rochester police. She had even received an offer from the CIA but decided to turn it down.**_

_**The moment she saw him, she knew that she probably had to arrest him right there and then. If she was able to. She instantly had her hand on her holstered gun in that very moment. She approached him, tugged her shirt aside to show her gun and stood beside him.**_

_**"You know, I will have to arrest you, Jerry."**_

_**"Oh, you do?" he said, partly impressed that she saw through his charade (base cap, grown-out beard, wide, worn clothes) partly bored and partly annoyed that she actually figured out who he was just by him sitting there.**_

_**"You know that. Besides, I am a police officer."**_

_**"Oh, you are?" With this, he leaned forward, his face now better visible in the otherwise dull light.**_

_**"I am with the Rochester police" she said, trying to steady her voice.**_

_**"And your name, Detective?"**_

_**"Ellis. Tori Ellis."**_

_**"So, Detective Ellis, you've walked up to me and bluntly told me that you're gonna arrest me. What's holding you off?" he said, provokingly. "I am sitting here, a beer in front of me and I won't obstruct you in the course of your duty. So, why are you waiting?"**_

_**She didn't know and she should have known. It was her job, her duty to put the serial killer in front of her behind bars. Yet, she didn't move. She just looked at him, confused. Then she slowly moved back the chair opposite to him and sat down.  
**_

* * *

"And this leaves us with..?" Kate asked, rubbing her temples with both her index fingers.

Agent Montrose brought up the sets of numbers to the biggest screen and they saw that a new number had been added in the meantime. "We pulled the next set of numbers from the invitation Mrs Rodgers received to her acting school. Interestingly, there were two sets on this one. We didn't see the second one at first, because it was in the back of the envelope but we were able to detect its meaning fairly quick because there is only one solution that makes sense in connection to what we've seen before."

968 - 9668 - 23 - 2253 - 86

YOU - WONT - BE - ABLE - TO

"You won't be able to..." Agent Shaw murmured to herself.

"And there are two words left" Detective Ryan said "because we learned that he ordered seven invitations all together."

"Stop me, kill me, find me, detect me, hunt me, arrest me..." Castle listed the possible sentences the numbers could form when the sentence was complete.

"Now enlighten us, guys, who are the last two people to be invited to our wedding" Kate said sarcastically, causing Castle to shoot her an incredulous look. Esposito chuckled. Ryan looked at them, one after another, obviously aware of the fact that something was going on behind his back. For some reason, he couldn't be bothered. Instead, he took a final look at his notepad and said: "The last two names on his invitations are Alexis Castle..."

"... not surprising" said Agent Shaw and got up to add the Name to the murder board.

"Not surprising?" Kate asked.

"Like I told you" Shaw said, turning around to her "he needs her to be in it until the end. More fun. No danger for her, just her name on the envelope. Easy. Besides, if he really plans something along the lines of a wedding scenario - which we still have to figure out - he would include Alexis as a guest."

"But, she's gonna be in Costa Rica around that time..." Castle interrupted her.

"I said that this seems to be his plan, Mr. Castle, not that it is a particularly good one" Shaw said causing Esposito to snicker despite the seriousness of a serial killer on the loose. As soon as his snicker died down, all eyes were on Ryan again, whose visit to Martha's acting school apparently triggered the actor in him.

"... so, Alexis Castle and ..." he dragged out the moment as long as possible before anyone snapped at him.

"And who else, Ryan?" Kate said, getting impatient.

"Tori Ellis"

* * *

**A/N: Dun, Dun ... Duuuuun! This was unexpected, right? At least I hope so. Thank you to anyone who left reviews with corrections for my chapters, you know who you are. It helps a lot and I hope you found everything enjoyable despite your hunt for mistakes :-) Consider yourself virtually hugged, yeah? **

**To the criticism on Lanie and Kate hanging out, I wanna gently address that girls don't just get "dolled up" for men. We generally do that for ourselves, it's a nice boost for the self-confidence, you know? ;-)**

**Also, note that some of the future chapters will have their rating changed to "T" - they won't count towards the 50.000 word goal but need to be rated higher.**


	23. It Rings True

**A/N: Don't worry, the boys will see the ring - Kate is just talented at hiding her hand in her pockets and behind her. It would be funny if she did, wouldn't it? I can almost see it ... oh Terri Edda, please do it? TeaseTeaseTease, giggle, snort, please?**

* * *

**Chapter 23 - It Rings True**

_"But, she's gonna be in Costa Rica around that time..." Castle interrupted her._

_"I said that this seems to be his plan, Mr. Castle, not that it is a particularly good one" Shaw said causing Esposito to snicker despite the seriousness of a serial killer on the loose. As soon as his snicker died down, all eyes were on Ryan again, whose visit to Martha's acting school apparently triggered the actor in him._

_"... so, Alexis Castle and ..." he dragged out the moment as long as possible before anyone snapped at him._

_"And who else, Ryan?" Kate said, getting impatient._

_"Tori Ellis"_

* * *

"What?"

The surprise in the room was almost tangible. No one had expected the tech detective to be on Tyson's list. Especially, if this was a list that he had created for a hypothetical wedding of Kate and Castle. Even if Tori Ellis was a member of the police force and had assisted them with several cases in the meantime

"I'd never though I'd say this but that's actually new. And surprising. I like good surprises, though... " Castle said.

"Is she coming in today?" Jordan Shaw asked. Agent Montrose nodded and Esposito added "Think she has a later shift but should be in soon."

"How are we addressing this?" Kate asked, suddenly unsure. She had scolded Castle about his hunches a couple of days back but now she was having one of her own. What did she actually know about Detective Ellis? Other than she worked with the tech team and was stationed at the 12th precinct? Kate went into thinking mode, blocking out the chatter from the other people in the room. She suddenly had a bad feeling about the detective, she didn't know where it came from but Jerry Tyson included her in his strange game and no one was included there, no one was placed there without a reason. Agent Shaw seemed to be on the same page there "Why is he including an outsider all of the sudden?"

"What do you mean, outsider ..." asked Esposito, attempting to defend their latest team addition.

"She wasn't involved the last time we dealt with 3XK, was she?" Kate cut in "in fact, she had just joined this precinct barely a month prior and was still familiarizing with her new work environment."

Ryan said what everybody was thinking: "That's not good."

"Not at all" said Castle darkly.

"Now, what do we do?" asked Esposito "how are we're gonna act around her?"

"Well, we cannot take her off the case. It would arise suspicion. If, and this is a big 'if', she is working with him, we cannot let her know" said Agent Shaw, pacing up and down the room. "This is very surprising, non of our prior experiences with 3XK have indicated that he'd ever go for an accomplice or ever needing one? He has always been so careful, choosing his victims, playing cat and mouse with the task forces, fooling the investigators, why would he need anyone else?"

"It doesn't fit his profile at all" said Castle concerned.

"I suggest we still consider her as a part of the team. But Agent Montrose is going to cut her off our important findings and only feeding her small bits and pieces. D'you think that'll work?" she addressed her fellow FBI agent.

"Sure it would" he said, grinning.

"Meanwhile, we should check on her background as well. See what comes up" said Kate "but we'll do it discretely. Dragging this on as long as possible without her noticing it."

"Yo Beckett, but what about if she has nothing to do with it?" said Esposito with a weak attempt to end the idea on a positive note.

"Then it's all good"

"But what if she has?" Castle asked, worry still on his face.

"Then she might lead us directly to him" Beckett answered, determination coating her every feature. She stood there, hands in her pockets - Castle silently cursed at how good she was hiding her 'rock' - and she wore the attitude that simply meant she was not going to back off. Tyson was going down. One way or the other.

* * *

_**Maryanne Wilson was showering. The soft drops of the water splashed against the pink floral shower curtain. She hummed a song from the billboard charts and carefully shampooed her hair. The scent of lathered-up shampoo filled the bathroom.**_

_**He heard her from the adjacent bedroom, having accessed her apartment just a few minutes earlier. He knew her schedule, once she arrived home after an exhausting meeting with business partners, she would always shower. To wash off the stress, to let it all go down the drain.**_

_**He could hear the shower get turned off and her small curses as she banged her knee at the bath tub when exiting it. That was gonna leave a bruise, if that mattered in the end. In the end she would be dead. So probably not. He hid beside the bathroom door and held his breath. She exited the bathroom, unsuspecting her murderer to stand right next to her.**_

_**It went all very fast.**_

_**With a thud, her now lifeless body fell to the ground. Her red, wet hair still half tucked in her green towel. He took the knife out of his messenger bag and proceeded as he did with the other two victims. He then carefully placed his trophy into a small plastic zip bag, zipped it closed and took one last look at the victim.**_

_**Blood slowly spilled from her finger, the drops falling to the ground soundlessly. Her expression was surprised, her now lifeless eyes staring into infinity.**_

_**He took the next envelope out of his bag and leaned it against the cooling body. The golden letters said 'Alexis Castle'. Jerry Tysons mouth formed into a satisfied grin. He turned around and left Maryanne Wilson's apartment right where he entered it, through the front door.  
**_

* * *

"You're hiding it" Castle stated when Beckett and him had managed to steal a moment alone. They sat in the break room, the case files of all the Jerry Tyson cases still on the table. Apparently, no one had bothered to clear them away.

"I'm hiding ... what?"

"You exactly know what I am talking about" Castle responded and stepped closer to her, so that their foreheads were touching.

"Am I?" she teased, but it was a weak attempt. He was completely right. She shouldn't fidget, shouldn't hide the ring.

"You said it was alright that I pushed you."

"You did" she said and distanced herself a little bit to be able to look into his eyes. His mesmerizing blue eyes that looked at her, worried. Scared even. "I don't know what I am doing there. All of them basically know it, they know that I love you, they know we're together, why am I ..."

She trailed off. She had no answer.

"Why don't you stop being so nervous..." Castle suggested and took both or her hands and entwined their fingers "... and act how you'd normally do around here..." he raised her adorned hand towards his mouth "... and just be..." he kissed her fingers, one at a time "... you?"

"You know Castle" she said, grinning, "I rarely say this so this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you here but you're completely right."

"I am?" he said, surprised.

"Yeah, I guess" she said, now taking his fingers up to her mouth. She caressed each of his fingers with little kisses, too. She trembled with anticipation. Even these small gestures showed her once again how much she needed this man, needed to have him by her side every day. And if she was being very honest to herself, one of the reasons she turned down the job offer from the FBI was that he would not be by her side when she worked for the attorney general's office.

Their quiet moment was once again interrupted by anxious looking Detective Karpowksi.

"Sorry to interrupt, guys, but I'm afraid we got another one!"

"Let's do this then" Kate said, meaning the latest body drop and the request from Castle. She looked at her engagement ring and suppressed a sigh. She hated being the center of attention, especially if it was a personal reason that was behind it. Then suddenly she realized that she hadn't even called her dad.

"Castle!" she said once Karpowski was out of hearing range.

"Yes, detective?" he asked, mocking her shocked expression.

"I didn't call my dad"

"Oh" was all Castle managed to say.

* * *

The car ride to the crime scene was a relatively short one and it wasn't a surprise that Lanie beat them there. She hovered over the body of yet another red haired young woman.

"This is definitely him" Kate said and Lanie nodded.

"he took her by surprise, do you see her face? She must have been completely startled by his appearance. I assume that he waited by the door until she got off the shower and then surprised her. She's just wearing towels and her hair is still completely soaked."

"Can't have been to long ago" Kate determined, kneeling down.

"Not an hour, I'd say" Lanie said and noted something down on her notepad.

"Anything else?"

"Notice the pool of blood beside her hand?" the M.E. said and Castle and his fiancée looked at the small puddle on the tiled floor.

"Another missing finger?" Castle suspected and was proved right when he glanced slightly above the blood puddle.

"Yo, check this out" Esposito said as he came close "Victim must have just been back from an appointment at 'Fitch, Parker and Jennings'."

"Wait a minute" said Castle "isn't that the law firm the first victim's dad was an associate of?"

"Exactly, his name is Peter Jennings" said Ryan "and this means that the three women might be more connected than we had already suspected."

Kate tucked a strand of her honey tinted brown hair behind her hear, not noticing that the engagement ring sparkled in the bright light of the afternoon sun. She had completely forgotten that she wore it and hadn't it been for Ryan's hypnotic stare she probably would not have noticed anything. "Ryan?"

"Is that what I think it means?" he spluttered out. Well, this was awkward. But as the happiness radiated out of her like nothing else, a wide smile simply spread on her face, making an answer unnecessary. The Irish detective just beamed and then he congratulated Castle by giving him a heartfelt hug. Kate rose to her feet and was pulled into the most sincere hug she had ever gotten. Tears started to form but she rapidly blinked to keep them at bay.

"It was about time, you know?" Ryan said, still grinning. He then turned around to an also beaming Esposito and they trotted off to collect further witness statements. Lanie and Kate exchanged a look.

"You'll call for anything that comes up"? Kate asked the M.E.

"Sure" Kate turned around to leave.

"That went a lot better than I thought it would." Castle shrugged his shoulders and followed Beckett outside. The evidence bag with the latest envelope in his hand.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, the last body? Or are there more to come?**


	24. Prospects

**A/N: Thanks for the continuous support guys. We've found victim #3 and now it all goes downhill. You'll see. But no worries, this is not gonna get too dramatic. I'll stop at a 'T' rating. Let me know how you like my story telling. I don't have the murder board ready, apologies, but it's coming! **

* * *

**Chapter 24 - Prospects**

_"Is that what I think it means?" he spluttered out. Well, this was awkward. But as the happiness radiated out of her like nothing else, a wide smile simply spread on her face, making an answer unnecessary. The Irish detective just beamed and then he congratulated Castle by giving him a heartfelt hug. Kate rose to her feet and was pulled into the most sincere hug she had ever gotten. Tears started to form but she rapidly blinked to keep them at bay._

_"It was about time, you know?" Ryan said, still grinning. He then turned around to an also beaming Esposito and they trotted off to collect further witness statements. Lanie and Kate exchanged a look._

_"You'll call for anything that comes up"? Kate asked the M.E._

_"Sure" Kate turned around to leave._

_"That went a lot better than I thought it would." Castle shrugged his shoulders and followed Beckett outside. The evidence bag with the latest envelope in his hand._

* * *

"I think we might need a second murder board" said Esposito when he and Ryan came back from Maryanne Wilson's apartment.

"Already taken care of" said Castle and gestured towards the conference room where Beckett and Agent Shaw were busy fixing and extending the time line of the three murders. Agent Montrose said at one of the computers, torturing the keyboard in front of him by frantically typing away.

"So Castle..." said Ryan, his tone curious "... come on, spill!"

"Spill ... what?" Castle answered, his tone a little too innocent.

"Yeah, you decided to make Beckett an honorable woman, we just wanna make sure you did right. So, no hot air balloon then?" Esposito said.

"And no pompous decorations?"

"Not even a horse carriage?"

"No violinist?"

"No piano?"

Castle's face fell. They were somewhat right, usually one would expect something more extravagant, elegant and over the top from him. After all, it is what his reputation stood for. But on the other hand he knew, that he couldn't go over the top with her. A proposal to Katherine Houghton Beckett needed to be simple, intimate, yet big. He thought he did it this way, even if it had been on the verge of a fight.

"If you thought she would have said 'yes' if I did a hot air balloon ride or anything along those lines, I'm not sure you actually know the woman for over a decade." Castle said, a small grin on his face.

"Good!" said Ryan.

"Yeah, good, Castle. We just wanted to make sure you understood that." Esposito said and Castle could tell how protective he was of his superior officer and friend, at the same time welcoming Castle fully to the family. In an odd, patronizing way but for Esposito it was a sweet and well-meaning gesture.

"So" started an obviously curious Detective Ryan "how did you do it?"

"On the swings. In the park. I just ... I had the ring for a while now and then this job opportunity came up. She didn't say that she flew to Washington, we had a fight and I had actually considered letting her do what she wanted. Because that's what I always did. My mother reminded me that I couldn't always put her first, that I had to make sure that we were on the same page. And that I was afraid that I might not want this to last. But I do."

"Congratulations, bro" said Esposito, his eyes full of sincerity and maybe even a little admiration for his friend who had come so far, making the transition from eligible bachelor #9, the guy with a girl on either arm, the playboy, to a man that knew what he wanted, someone who had figured out that there were more important things in life than just the quick success, both privately and professionally. Someone who now knew that it wasn't about the books anymore.

Castle actually loved coming to the precinct almost every day. It filled his life with substance, something he was lacking when his only work consisted of wandering around the loft being pretty much naked, eating junk food and drinking too much whiskey. Somewhere along those lines he had the most unproductive period of his life and when he heard her voice for the first time, telling him that she needed to talk to him about a murder that had taken place earlier that night, when he turned around and looked her in the eye - she caught his attention. Her work fascinated him. She did. Alexis had been right. 'That's new' she had said and indeed, Kate Beckett was new. Early on he understood that he was never going to get tired of her, hearing her speak, looking at her, looking into her hazel eyes. Even if she was with other men, he could still sense their connection until it hit him. It had been love. Almost all along.

And now that he had her, more secure than ever, there were the things that he hadn't known about her and slowly processed while being with her for a year. How waking up next to her was the best thing about the whole day, being able to study the features of her face when it was relaxed in her sleep. How she made him pancakes after a specially exhausting night, how she had given him a drawer in her apartment and a key to it. Their kissing. Sloppy, fast, sensual, quick pecks before the doors to the elevator at the precinct would open, careful caresses, deep moans and little butterfly kisses along collarbones. The best thing about being with Kate Beckett, ranking even above the fact that he could wake up next to her, was the fact that she agreed on making plans. With him. Now she agreed on having a wedding, which was huge for a 'one and done' type of girl. He just hoped he wouldn't disappoint.

Castle, who had difficulties with becoming too emotional all of the sudden, got up and tried to inconspicuously wipe his left eye. He indicated that he planned to assist Beckett with the modification of the murder board and went ahead. Ryan and Esposito went to their respective desks, both processing the fact that two of their colleagues and best friends were going to get married.

"Mom and Dad are getting married" Ryan said incredulously.

"Yeah" Esposito trailed off, lost in his thoughts.

"You think she's pregnant?"

"Oh man, will you not let this go?" complained Esposito with his face expressing his disgust.

"Eh, eh, Javi, did you forget what I said about comments on pregnant women?" asked Ryan and pulled out his drawer to get a fresh notepad. He stopped and looked at his partner.

"Javi!"

"What?"

"There's another one!"

* * *

"What do you mean, there is another one?" asked Agent Shaw, her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Jerry Tyson to leave his comfort zone and yet he did, adding certain features to his killings that he had never done before. And now he deviated from his plan once more?

"Didn't the lady at the shop say that there were gonna be two more?"

"She was right, there are. See? Alexis' name is crossed out. Instead, it says 'Kevin and Jenny Ryan'." said Esposito.

"How did he get in into Ryan's drawer?" asked Kate, her voice concerned "If we assume that he changed it because he learned that Alexis was not going to be in town, then he must have placed it late yesterday or early today. Or someone must have done it for him." Agent Shaw nodded in accordance.

"This is getting scary. I don't think Gates will particularly like that he got into here again and no one noticed." Ryan commented.

"He must not have been here" Castle said, "what if he actually send someone?"

"You mean Tori?" Esposito asked.

"Can we find out if she accessed the system last night or this morning? Can we find out if the cameras were tempered with?"

"Already on it" said Agent Montrose and began to dive into the deep oceans of modern computer technology.

"Wait a minute, even if Alexis' name is crossed out, we did find an envelope with Maryanne Wilson, too. Doesn't that still make it one too many?" Shaw cut in and everyone nodded.

"Yeah, it would. Except the last one has Tori's name on it" said Ryan, who had quickly exited the room to speak to Forensics.

"I dunno, I feel like she is involved. Now more than ever. It might be just a hunch..." Kate received an 'oh really' glance from Castle but went on "... but I feel like we need to be extra careful now. The sentence, however, is completed and as soon as we have the last set of numbers, we'll know what he wanted us to know."

"It does not mean that his game is over" Agent Shaw said "remember, June 22th is only in a couple of weeks."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Castle.

"I assume that he has planned his grande finale at the location he provided us with" Shaw said.

"Wait!" interjected Ryan "Someone is missing at the invitations that were sent out!"

"Huh?"

"Me! He didn't include me!" Everyone is looking at him confused, because there is a letter with his name on. And it had laid in his desk drawer. "Well, apparently I wasn't his first choice. Or he messed something up by giving Martha two clues to his riddle."

"Detective Ryan is right" said Agent Shaw "and we need to figure out why that is. Jerry Tyson doesn't do anything without a reason, we all know that. We've come across his habits more than once. Even if it's been, like in my case, only through federal reports and cooling traces. If he actually slipped, made a mistake, it might make it easier to find him in the end."

"So, to get this straight, my mother gets one number on the envelope and one on the card, all the others get one. And then he learns that Alexis is not gonna be here for the date that he has set, so he excludes her and puts Ryan and his wife instead?" Castle summed up what they knew.

"Looks like it" Kate said and squeezed his arm.

"Do we mention the envelope to Detective Ellis?" Esposito asked.

Agent Shaw answered the question for him: "I think we should. If she is in on everything he has done so far then she will expect us to. If we don't she might get suspicious and then we might lose whatever small advantage we've gained here. I suggest we tell her and see how she reacts. I still want her to be cut off any our relevant findings. We should then work towards the date that he set, June 22nd. We have found connections between the murders, we might also receive information from the public."

"Sounds like a plan" Ryan said.

* * *

_**'We have completed stage one of the plan. Be ready. **__**395'**_

_****__**She snapped the phone shut and grinned. So the first part of the plan was completed. The next would require all of her acting skills to work out but she was pretty confident that it would.**_

_****__**By now, they had received envelope #6 and #7 and now all she needed to do was to make sure she left breadcrumbs at the right places. **_

**_They were always a step to late, exactly as Jerry had predicted. He had played with them. All the time. The absence of Alexis Castle had required a little change of plan. He was OCD like that. He had found it funny to sneak into the precinct again. It gave him a thrill he normally only felt when he was killing. His little slip up with the two sets of numbers on Martha's envelope and invitation bothered her a little but she hadn't dared to ask him about it. You didn't point 3XK at his own flaws. Not if you wanted to stay alive._**

**_She was curious how the other detectives and the FBI agents would act around her now that something had come up that put her in the spotlight. She reached the 12th precinct and thought 'let the snow begin.'  
_**

* * *

Kate used the next fifteen minutes to brief Captain Gates on the latest developments. She, too, was very concerned about the fact that either Jerry Tyson had gained access to her precinct once again or that a NYPD police officer worked together with him. Both speculations didn't sound too appealing.

"What if we put a detail on her?" asked Gates.

"We can't use our own people" answered Kate "with her access to the computer systems and our assumption that she tempered with them before, we risk being detected. We could, however, use FBI resources. I already cleared that with Shaw. She thinks it is a good idea."

"I do, too" said Gates, nodding "especially when June 22nd is only a couple of weeks away and it seemingly is planned to be the climax of 3XK's wicked game."

Kate turned around to leave Gates' office when she heard her captain speak again. "Kate?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful"

She left the office to find Ryan and Esposito on their phones. Castle sat in his usual spot beside her desk and played with his phone.

"You know what bothers me?" he started when she sat down beside him.

"I guess you're gonna tell me pretty soon?" she teased him.

"Very funny, Kate, very funny. Your wit is one of the things that I like about you. I love that you're sassy, too."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really. But anyways, it bothers me that Tyson has killed three women that we know of and that we're still completely clueless where this is headed." Castle said and Kate's mood darkened a little bit.

"Yeah."

Kate's telephone ringed and she picked up the receiver. "Yeah, Karpowski, alright ... can they have it come down as soon as possible? ... Ok ... yeah, I'll add that. Briefing in an hour? ... Sure. Ok. Bye."

"That was Karpowski."

"I figured." Now it was Castle's turn to tease her. She shot him one of her 'seriously?' looks and his smile froze only to become bigger again after she shot him one of her beautiful smiles.

"Evidence has processed the envelope that lay beside the last victim. She has it send down to us. Uniforms have collected evidence statements. Maybe they'll help us to connect all three of the women. Her common characteristics, her similar physiques and outward appearances ... this cannot be a coincidence. It never is with him."

"Nope. I'm glad we were able to agree on him being alive, although I wish you were right."

"Me, too!"

Ryan had finished his call with Lanie and came over to Kate's desk to report his latest findings to her. "Lanie called, she confirms the TOD we already established, Tyson's time frame gets narrower. He must barely have left the apartment when Maryanne's sister came by the apartment to pick her sister up for a round of Pilates. And guess where they were headed?"

"The same gym that Carol Jennings went to?" guessed Kate.

"You nailed it!"

* * *

_**They had not called her down to assist with the 3XK case and it had her worried. If they cut her off all the information, she depended solely on the information she was able to pull off the system. If they cut her from this, too, she had nothing to fall back on. She then could not help him. **_

_**'I think I'm off the case' she texted him and almost within thirty seconds she had her reply.**_

_**'Doesn't matter. I have it covered. **__**395.'  
**_

_****__**'How?'**_

_****__**"Just you wait. 395.'**_

* * *

Instead of asking Detective Ellis down to the conference room, Kate and Agent Jordan Shaw set out for Ellis' workplace in the same building. After completing the sentence that Jerry Tyson sent them, they had agreed on making sure that he did not have help within the precinct. Still, they could not actually prove her involvement. That made things a little tricky. So with Gates' and the Commissioner's permission they had agreed on suspending Detective Ellis from work until further notice and have a couple of FBI agents secretly follow her every move. They had to make sure that she was cut off from the precinct, the access to the internal and external resources and her colleagues. It was necessary.

"No need to feel bad, Detective" said Agent Shaw when the doors of the elevator closed behind them.

"You have quite some mind-reading skills" Kate answered "how do you do that?"

"Oh" Shaw smiled "that's fairly easy. I have a daughter. I catch her lying all the time. And I always know what she is hiding from me, so it is a mixture between a skill that I already had and something that I learned from experience. But don't underestimate yourself, detective, I think over the years as a homicide detective you're gained a lot of experience. Don't tell me that you can't tell when people lie to your face ..."

"Oh, I am pretty good. I sense when something is off" Kate answered.

"See? And this is why it is important that we confront Detective Ellis with our findings. See how she reacts, make her cringe internally, provoke her. Maybe she slips? After all, if she is Tyson's accomplice she is a weak link, she is replaceable. He hasn't needed help before, why would he now?" Shaw said.

"You think she is in danger?" Kate asked as the doors opened again.

"That's why we'll keep an eye on her in the first place." They exited the elevator and marched towards Detective Ellis' desk. The tech specialist must have realized that two pairs of eyes pierced her back. She turned around and her face was unreadable. No surprise, no fear, nothing.

"She is good" Kate mumbled.

"She's had a good teacher" Shaw mumbled back "but let's see what we can do."

* * *

_**When she saw the detective and the agent approaching her, it dawned on her that she was indeed off the case. She trembled a little but but steadied herself quickly, her face an unreadable mask. She couldn't show any weakness.**_

_**"Detective Ellis" said Kate Beckett, when she was close to her desk.**_

_**"Detective Beckett? What can I do for you?" she said, her lips parting in a weak smile.**_

_**"We've come to tell you that you're suspended until further notice. We'd ask you to clear your office from your personal belongings. You'll be notified as soon as something changes." Beckett said, carefully observing Ellis' face. **_

_**"May I ask what this is all about?" **_

_**"You may not" said Agent Shaw, determination in her voice "Let's just say, we're not too happy to have you around at the moment. You've proved to be very helpful for ... us ... but there's been a change."**_

**_"What change?" Ellis demanded to know._**

**_"The fact that your name is on one of the envelopes."_**

**_Ellis' face turned white and she gasped for air. She did not see that coming. And neither did the agent and the detective who looked at her intently. _****_Ellis tried to compose herself and steadied her breathing. She hadn't known that he had included her, hadn't known that there was one envelope with her name on it. She had to fight back a shudder and occupied herself with the belongings on her desk._**

**_"Is that all?" she asked, having regained her composure. She looked directly into Detective Beckett's eyes as she did so._**

**_"That's all" the detective responded and she and her FBI friend turned to leave. Ellis let out a sigh. It seemed as if he had included her in the game that he played and she didn't like where this was headed. She felt like a puppet, once again. He was her puppet master. She wouldn't sacrifice him, wouldn't tell them where he was._**

**_She had to tell him that their communication might not be safe for long. They probably have people follow her, too. That meant no meetings._**

**_"I am suspended. Think a detail will be on me. What now?" _**

**_"I take it from here. ___****__****395"  
**

* * *

"How did she take it?" Gates asked, when Kate and Agent Shaw had gotten back into her office and the door fell closed behind them.

"Too well" said Kate "at least at first."

"What do you mean?" Gates asked, her glasses gliding down her nose. She put them up impatiently and gestured Kate to go on. Instead it was Shaw who explained what they had just witnessed.

"She tried to remain as calm as she could. She was curious about what we wanted but curious enough to be innocent. She knew that we cut her off some of the resources and off our findings, she knew we suspect her to be involved. Even if we didn't say what we actually assume. She didn't see coming that her name would be on one of the envelopes, though..."

"Is that so?" asked Gates, sitting down behind her desk.

"Yeah" Kate added "she had no idea, and if she is adept to Tyson's plans, she must know what it means. Judging from the color of her face, it's nothing all too positive."

* * *

Ryan and Esposito were able to connect all three victims - Maryanne, their victim #3 went to the same fitnes studio as victim #1, Carol Jennings. It turned out that victim #2, Harmony Eddington had had coffee at the coffee place close to Castle's place one day. Additionally, all three frequented the same university.

"So, we have our connections" said Castle "but what about the next moves? What is he up to, next?"

"We've sent out a team to your house in the Hamptons, Castle, they're sweeping it as we speak. But I doubt we'll find something there. At least not now."

"How d'you reckon?"

"He must have thought about that. As soon as we found the first envelope with the date on it, we would at least have had the idea to search the place."

"Oh, that's right" Castle admitted.

"According to his profile, Tyson will disappear now. He's done his killing spree of three" said Ryan, yet again cringing at the rhyme he had produced "and can fly under the radar until the air has cleared again."

"True" said Agent Montrose "but if he actually planned on doing that, why did he set June 22nd as a date? Even if we don't know what he is planning, isn't the time between now and June 22nd to narrow to include the recent activities into his usual pattern?"

"Normally I'd say you're right" Kate nodded "but not this time..."

"... this time it's different" added Castle and Ryan and Esposito looked at each other and grinned. Mom and Dad were doing it again.

"This time we didn't believe that he was convincing. I didn't believe that he was dead. Not a second. For someone like Jerry Tyson such a thing is unacceptable. I've ruined his place before, now he needs to make sure that I don't do that again. He is serious. More serious than ever."

"Why hasn't he attacked you yet?" asked Montrose, asking the exact question everyone had in mind but didn't dare asking.

"It's too straightforward. He does things ... more secretly? Even elaborated, if I must say so. He is a genius. A weird, ill-minded, megalomaniac bastard. But a genius. That's why he is challenging all of us, he wants to prove to us that he is better. Smarter. Quicker." Everyone looked down. Castle's little speech had them speechless. The range of Jerry Tyson's criminal abilities once again shocked them deeply. It was Esposito who broke the silence.

"Why don't we focus on the parties that are planned in Castle's neighborhood around June 22nd?"

"It's a start" Kate nodded.

* * *

"I'm gonna be out here soon" Kate mumbled so that Castle was the only one to hear her. They were back at her desk and shared a quick moment together.

"It's barely 4pm" Castle stated.

"I know..."

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"No secrets?"

"Fine, I'm seeing Burke"

"Oh" was all Castle could manage.

"Don't 'oh' me, Castle, I'm still seeing him. He helps me ... understand things."

"You mean me?"

"Can we not be so shallow, Mr. Castle?" she teased him.

"Oh detective, I'm hurt" he said, mocking her. She snorted.

"In that case, I'm leaving with you. How about a nice, self-made dinner?"

"That would be nice" she said, hoping it would rather be Pasta Carbonara than one of his ridiculous Smorlettes. As if he could actually read her thoughts, he grinned provocatively.

* * *

About an hour later, Kate and Castle left the precinct. On their respective desks, Ryan and Esposito sat and still worked on Jerry Tyson's background and movements, habits, family ...

Shaw and her colleague tried to establish a pattern of his movements that would allow them to eventually find places he had stayed at for longer, cheap motels, pensions, maybe even private rentals. They cross-referenced notable websites, hotel listings and metro lines connecting all places. They had even included the credit card statements from the three victims and Alexis Castle into the equation, who said that Tyson didn't leave any form of digital finger print?

Gates had spend the afternoon on the phone with the commissioner and pulled several strings with the FBI for Ellis' detail. She rarely showed it but she was exhausted by the case they caught. She wished Jerry Tyson was dead, she genuinely wished that.

After the elevator doors had closed and all the detectives on the floor were more or less occupied, no one noticed the small plushie that sat on the edge of Beckett's monitor. Neither would they notice the little beeping sound it made. Just once. One small beep.

* * *

**A/N: One more K+ and then off to "T" :-) I am happy to have accomplished the "Castle Fic-A-Thon 2013 goal of 50.000 words! :) Couldn't have done that without your guys' support! I can't thank you enough! We're not done, so no worries ! :)**

**See you soon, please leave a little (or not so little review) :-) I'd love that! **


	25. In The Course of the Conversation

**A/N: I am still in love with 'Decisions and Dominoes' - if you haven't read it, go, do it! To alll other Fic-A-Thon 2013 writers, I am not reading your stories right now, because I don't wanna influence my own. For all that see a resemblance to Flashpoint33's above mentioned story, I planned to send Kate to Burke early on, it just didn't fit. But I assumed that a huge step in a relationship would urge her to see him, don't you think? Enjoy, lovelies :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 25 - In the Course of the Conversation**

_After the elevator doors had closed and all the detectives on the floor were more or less occupied, no one noticed the small plushie that sat on the edge of Beckett's monitor. Neither would they notice the little beeping sound it made. Just once. One small beep._

* * *

Stoic.

This was one of the words which came to mind when Kate thought about Dr. Carter Burke. The way he sat there in his leather chair, supporting his chin with one of his hands, his glance piercing, his posture always upright, focussed, attentive. He had something calm about him that made Kate feel welcome but he still asked the painful questions, questions she needed to think about.

Mostly it had been situations that had dealt with her PTSD because that's why she had been sent to a psychiatrist in the first place. Exploring the depths of Katherine Houghton Beckett - in ways she had never felt possible. She soon realized that Dr. Burke had the ability to make her realize things, take the dull, grey veil away and make her see things crystal clear.

She remembered him asking her about plans for her future. What she felt about Castle distancing from her right when she was making such good progress at opening up. Even if she just showed flickers of it to her writer. Burke didn't stop at her silence but he always sensed when she wasn't ready to continue. He pressed but never too hard and this might be one of the reasons Kate trusted her psychiatrist the way she did.

At first, Kate hadn't been too excited to be forced to the appointments with a shrink. Even if it became some sort of normality that people saw shrinks, had meltdowns and had stress reactions, one could still feel the stigma of being seen at a shrink's office. Also, it made you appear weak. Although Kate would seldom admit it to any of her friends or Castle, she had feared being vulnerable, weak and defenseless. She had even considered not talking to the psychiatrist at all. She had wanted to be stubborn thinking that simply declaring herself able to work and carry a gun would be enough. So she had sat in the corner of Dr. Burke's office, her legs tucked up, her arms folded, her face unreadable. And if you read just one thing on her face from time to time, clearly it was annoyance.

Until she realized that she couldn't sit there forever without any progress. She refused to let that happen. Life could be steady from time to time and she didn't mind that at all. Since she worked in a field in which lives were thrown out of balance each and every day, she sometimes struggled to stay put. It was hard sometimes, not to get sucked into a dangerous vortex of lies, love, mystery, crime and betrayal. Kate had seen them all, the easy 'Jack killed Jill for Bill' murders that Esposito had preferred in the beginning. Not much dreaded paperwork on these ones, that was for sure. But there were other murders. The ones that had cut deep. The ones that had to do with family, trust and betrayal. With the denial of motherly love and affection, with ugly divorces and split ups, with men cheating on women and women cheating on men and all other constellations you could imagine.

Whenever a case was closed and the paperwork was done, Kate felt a certain sense of relief and closing somebody's else's case helped her gloss over the fact that she hadn't been able to solve her mother's stabbing. Granted, she had been somewhat successful identifying the person that was behind the order to kill her mother but what good did it do? Did it really help realizing that she was unable to do anything about it? That she even had to consider allying with the person she probably hated the most? That this person might actually become the next president and his power would become limitless?

Nothing had been able to fill the parts of her that had been left empty when her mother was killed.

Until now.

Some parts were now filled.

"So, Kate ..." Burke started the conversation "It's been a while ..."

"Yeah" she said, feeling somewhat ashamed. She had prolonged the intervals between the sessions, which wasn't such a bad thing if you thought about it. Clearly, it must mean that something in her life was right, didn't need any fixing. Right?

"I assume your live had a lot to offer?"  
He gave her an idea on how to continue. Why did she feel so tongue-tied?

"Yeah" she said again. If she annoyed Dr. Burke, he didn't let it show. But really, who wouldn't be at least slightly annoyed if you sat down and wanted to talk about things and then one person just didn't talk?

"Yeah, you could definitely say that" she managed to choke out and rose to her feet, pacing up and down the room, behind the chair she had just sat in.

"You seem tense?"  
He tried to make her speak about her feelings and she really should, shouldn't she? He could give her input, help her focus again. Even give her clues to find Tyson?

Kate just nodded and stopped walking.

"I'm getting married" she blurted out and the glimpse of genuine surprise on her psychiatrist's face made her oddly proud.

"Well, Kate, that's ... _something_" Dr. Burke said, quickly regaining his professionalism.

"Something you never thought I could do, huh?" she said and he shook his head, vigorously.

"_Never_ is a harsh word" Burke protested "and I don't like to use it. I don't think that there are things that never change. Everything transforms, but even if you might think it, standstills don't really exist."

If that referred back to the fact that the pain about the loss of her mother became a dull ache somewhere in a corner in her heart, then he was right. If he meant that her feelings changed from desperation to determination because she just had to find the person that was responsible for her mother's murder, then yes again, Burke was right. If she had needed her 'walls' to protect her from being able to love and getting hurt by it, then that was again a clear 'yes'.

And now the big things changed.

"I must admit that it is a surprise, though" Burke said, looking her straight in her eyes.

"Yeah, for me, too..." she answered, slowing down, finally able to sit back down in her chair. "Things have been so ... complicated in the last couple of weeks, I don't even know where to start."

"Just pick something, Kate, in no particular order. And we will add things when we need them..." Dr. Burke said and he made it sound so easy, just talking things through, seeing connections that she hadn't been able to see alone. Finding a structure among the chaotic and hectic times and the rushed choices she had made.

So she told him everything.

How she hadn't been sure of Castle and didn't know where it came from. How she had felt under appreciated even if that wasn't actually the case. How another man had said the right things in the right moments to make her doubt whatever she had with her writer. How she had flinched. How she had been able to tell Castle right away, not hiding what had happened between her and Vaughn.

She also mentioned how she hadn't been able to tell her boyfriend that she had felt under appreciated. That she wasn't sure how to phrase that another man had made her feel special and that she didn't want that. There was just this one person that should make her feel special. Rick. No one else.

She told him all that.

And he listened.

Just like that.

Then they tackled the job offer from the attorney general's office. And Burke said something that had Kate thinking for several moments.

"Why is it that you mention the job offer after you told me that you're getting married?"

When Kate was finally able to find pieces of an answer - because, really, how could her answer include everything she had felt in the course of the last few weeks? - she just said: "Because it's the thing I am more proud of."

"And that's why ...?

"Because it is something I didn't think I could do. I always though that I would do it just once but I never committed to anyone enough to even make it seem possible. No one lasted. Because I didn't allow them to last..." she trailed off, looking at Dr. Burke intently but he didn't give her the confirmation she was looking for.

"Is that true?" he asked instead and Kate recalled the conversation she and Castle had had in her apartment, now more than three years back. How he had confronted her with the fact that she had hidden in relationships with men that she didn't really love. And how he hadn't answered her when she had wanted to know what they, her and him, what they were.

Friends. Not, never just that.

They had always been more.

"Yeah. I never wanted them to last. Makes me feel horrible. But I just ... I just needed steadiness. I didn't realized that I already had that..."

"So, does that mean you could take any job? Anywhere?" Burke asked.

"Basically? I understood that I didn't wanna do any other if I can't do it with him."

"You mean Castle..." Burke said and she confirmed his assumption with a nod.

"So, marriage ..."

"Yeah" sha said again and Burke let out a soft sigh of frustration.

* * *

The loft was already quiet when Beckett carefully opened the door to Castle's loft. She smellled the faint odor of food that had been freshly made but put away.

She slowly tapped toward the bedroom, finding him sitting on his side of the bed, absorbed by a new book.

"Hey" he said when he became aware of her presence. "How'd it go?"

"Can we just ... not ... talk about it right now?" Kate said, fully aware of his piercing stare, but too exhausted to communicate any more than a wish goodnight or the question who wanted to use the bathroom first.

"Okay" he said, understanding that there was no need to push her this time. She had been pushed enough today and needed some rest. "Can I offer you a nice, long foot massage?"

"That would help a lot, actually" she said softly and stroked his cheek.

"Then a foot massage it shall be" he said, channeling his inner bard and softly pushed her towards the bedroom. Their bedroom.

"Let's get you in the shower and into bed" he said and she pouted. "What, you think I smell?"

"I even like sweaty Beckett, two-days-unshowered Beckett, after-running Beckett, bacon-flavoured Beckett ... what makes you think that I wouldn't like you, even if you smelled right now, Detective?" he mocked her and she grinned.

"Still ..." he carefully mapped her face, her neck, her collarbones... "I like your cherry shampoo the best!"

"I bet you do" she answered and allowed him to actually shove her into the bathroom.

"Be quick, I have dinner ready and then I'll get you to bed." She saluted and left for the shower.

* * *

_**Complications. **_

**_Unnecessary_**_** complications.**_

_**The cellar was moist, the air smelled like mildew and the only window provided barely enough light to see one's own feet. The weak light bulb didn't help at all, too. He had to do something about that. He wanted to make her see what he saw, after all. Once his preparations were completed. **__**With his accomplice down - respectively being unable to help - he would have to double his efforts. It was too bad that his beautiful detective friend would only be a pawn on his big check board. **_

_**Easy to sacrifice but also easy to place wherever it was needed. Exactly what he had done. **_

_**They would never realize that he had switched Castle's stupid plushie for another, identical one. One small change that meant a lot. It meant that he could listen to whatever Detective Kate Beckett said when she was at work. Could participate in their little talks, their banter, their private whisperings. **_

_**He needed to know.**_

_**Needed to know how far he had already invaded their thinking. **_

_**If it worked.**_

_**If they'd also move on his check board the way he desired them to.**_

_**They had to.**_

_**He needed them to.**_

_**His revenge depended on it.  
**_

* * *

_"I feel like I can do anything with him."_

_"And does that frighten you?"_

_"It does. You have no idea how frightening that is."  
_

Yeah, that was basically the gist of the whole conversation with her psychiatrist. Kate shook her head. It all came down to that, didn't it?

She felt his strong arms around her waist as he embraced her and let out a content purr.

"What, Detective, have you become a cat now?"

"A satisfied one, you could say" she responded and wiggled herself free. Dinner had been fantastic. Castle has whipped up a stir fry from scratch and it had been delicious.

"Are you ready for my exclusive foot massage?" he teased.

"Nothing I haven't already had" she shot him one of the smiles that she reserved solely for him and she saw him shiver. "What Castle, are you cold? Do we need to turn on the heater?"

"Woman!" he growled and with a few strides he had caught up with the fleeing Kate.

"Will you eventually tell me what you and Burke spoke about today?" Castle asked, suddenly all too serious again.

"About what a coward I've been?" Kate responded and Castle opened his mouth to contradict but Kate couldn't let it happen "no, Castle, I said you can't let me off the hook too easily, remember? I have been a coward and I have been stupid for thinking that I could do anything without you anymore. That I was selfish for lying to you and not including you. And that I am so frightened by the prospect of basically doing everything I've ever wanted. With you."

"That's what you said?"

"Yeah, Castle, that's what I said. In a nutshell. Now can we do the massage?"

"Right, massage. Let's do this!"

* * *

**A/N: Murder board picture link will be included later, I wanted to get this out to you first. Please be so kind and leave a review if you have the time? You're seriously awesome! **


	26. Lies

**A/N: Haha, what an uprising in the reviews, people :-D - slow down, did you really think I was gonna let her off the hook when she hasn't let herself off the hook? Why do you think Kate even considered moving to another city in the first place? I think it's because she was tempted - we can only guess that this Vaughn-persona had something to do with that, right? So even if I still feel like "Squab" and "Human Factor" and parts of "Watershed" feel oddly construed and off character, the progression itself makes sense. Just not for the character. But that's just what I think. We're slowly on to "T' territory now, you'll see why...**

* * *

**Chapter 26 - Lies**

_"That's what you said?"_

_"Yeah, Castle, that's what I said. In a nutshell. Now can we do the massage?"_

_"Right, massage. Let's do this!"_

* * *

Kate tossed and turned in bed. An inner turmoil had her moving for about an hour and it was astounding that she didn't wake Castle by moving around so much. Her body didn't let her rest because she wasn't able to switch her mind off.

_"Why'd you let another man kiss you?"_

_"I didn't let another man kiss me!"  
_

_"But Kate, isn't that what you just said?"_

She lay on her back, her face facing the ceiling and her mind raced. The whole issue with somebody else that had gotten into her head ... it wasn't done yet, she wasn't done with it and she wasn't forgiven. For that, she needed to forgive herself. Instead, she had pushed the matter back in a barely visited corner of her heart and waited for it to disappear but if sessions with Dr. Carter Burke did one thing for her then it was to provide clarity. She had been right in asking Castle to not let her off the hook too easily but she had to start with herself.

She needed to question herself, her motivation, why she had lied.

Essentially, she needed to ask herself why she ever lied to Castle and what happened if her lies came to light.

It had never been good.

Never.

_"No, he wanted to kiss me and he moved forward and then I flinched."_

_"But did you __really? Or did you just flinch because a sniper tried to kill the person facing you?"_

_"I ..."_

_"Did you really flinch or would you have allowed him to kiss you?"_

_"I ... probably, yeah."_

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could she have been so stupid? Risking it all, risking him for a short moment of adulation? This wasn't her, was it? When had she become so shallow, how could that have happened?

Even if she had basically admitted to Castle that that kiss had happened or might have even extended if it hadn't been interrupted by a sniper shot, Kate felt like she still hadn't been completely honest with her fiancée and it bothered her. She hated to admit that she might have created a bigger damage than she had thought. If she tortured herself for it, still, how must Castle feel being on the receiving end of the blow?

And then she didn't stop there. She had lied to him again about her job interview with the attorney general. Had made him believe that she'd just didn't see her phone, didn't realize someone had called her. But had been on a plane instead.

Stupid.

The year before they had gotten together had solely consisted of lies. At least it seemed this way to her, reliving some of the moments in which they both had lied to each other. In search for justice. In cowardice. By running. By hiding. By using someone else. It had been messy and hurtful and she had never wanted to go back there, see the hurt on his face and yet, she hadn't done anything to prevent it from happening another time.

'What kind of miserable person am I?' she asked herself and tried to find peace in sleep once again but failed spectacularly. She slowly got up and careful not to make too much noise she left the bedroom for the kitchen to find some privacy and silence. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts. It felt like another form of betrayal having them while he slept peacefully beside her.

The kitchen was wrapped in a soft, yellow-orange light and Kate saw that she wouldn't find privacy and silence there now, as Martha occupied one of the stools at the counter.

"Hey" Kate said quietly and softly to not frighten Martha, who herself looked like she was deep in her own thoughts.

"Oh, hey Katherine" the older woman said and turned toward her "Can't sleep?"

"Tried" Kate mumbled in return.

"Therapy sessions sometimes do that, they leave you thinking for days. But isn't that how it's supposed to work?" the redhead said and smiled at the younger woman reassuringly.

"I dunno, Martha, I feel like a lot is going on and it's even bigger than I realized. My mistakes are bigger than I realized."

"Oh, kiddo, everybody makes mistakes..."

"Oh no, not you, too!" Kate said with some force in her voice. Martha looked at her, unable to understand what Kate meant. "Don't you dare letting me off the hook as well. People make mistakes, granted, but I am hurting people!"

"You mean Richard."

"Among others, yeah..."

"Are we still talking about this super rich, super handsome gentleman you had to babysit?" Martha sat straight on her bar stool, looking at Kate questioningly but already knowing the answer.

"Yeah" Kate simply answered and looked down. Martha raised a finger and put it under Kate's chin and softly pushed it back up.

"A lot of women would have been tempted by such a charming, young and successful man, Kate. That's nothing unusual, really. It's the way people react to it, this it what counts. And if you screwed up there and if you feel like you needed to make amends for it, first make them to yourself. Why did you like it in the first place and what made you forget who you are and who you're supposed to be?"

The unspoken word 'with' had some force that hit Kate hard.

"That's what bothered me for the whole night, Martha. I've tossed and turned and I couldn't get my mind to shut up!"

"It won't" Martha simply said and rose to her feet. "It won't as long as you haven't understood what it was that made you tick in that moment."

The older woman slowly retreated to her bedroom and left a confused detective in her wake.

_"What made you want to kiss him back?"_

_"I wanted it."_

_"Why did you want it?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"Why did you want it, Kate?"_

_"Because I liked the idea of him wanting me."_

There, the painful truth. She had wanted Erik Vaughn to kiss her and she had wanted him to do it because she liked the idea of someone courting her, complimenting her, obviously being attracted by her. Would it have stopped there, would it really have stopped there? She couldn't tell, she wanted to be sure it would have. But she couldn't tell.

She got off the kitchen stool and paced up and down the room, thinking hard.

She had told Castle that there had been a kiss. Or a kissing attempt. Something along those lines, she couldn't remember. All she remembered was the pain flickering on Castle's face, a quickly retreating Ryan who wanted to give them some space of their own. She remembered feeling helpless, unprofessional but stubborn at the same time, unable to shake off parts of her that she didn't like. Parts of her that had made her lied, that had made her not tell the whole story. It hadn't been the right place to discuss these things and she hadn't wanted to do it there and then they didn't do it at all.

Her weak attempt at asking Castle where the relationship was going.

Why did she have to ask all of the sudden? Didn't she know already? What made her sabotage something she held so dear?

Stupid!

She slowly went back into the bedroom, observing Castle's peaceful look, letting him sleep. She went to the bathroom and fished in the hamper for yesterday's clothes and put them on. She tied her hair in a ponytail, looked at her exhausted face in the mirror and checked her father's watch. 3.22am.

She tiptoed across the bedroom and retrieved her boots before she left Castle's loft. It would take some tim until she'd see it again.

* * *

It was a three hour drive to her father's cabin and Kate felt exhausted. After packing some clothes and necessities in her apartment, she had left for the solitude of the woods. It had cleared up her mind once before, she thought it could do it again. She hoped it could do it again.

All of the sudden she felt like she was confronted with her professional choice once again. Had she really done the right thing? She needed to know. That's why she chose to go here.

The sun had already started to rise and birds chirped their little sing songs as Kate unloaded her duffle bag from the trunk of her car.

'I am where I used to be when I needed an open mind to examine my walls' she had written on a small note and had left it on the kitchen table in Castle's loft. He would know. And he would know it might take a few days. She hoped that she didn't frighten him when he woke up not finding her next to him.

She opened the door to her father's cabin and went in.

And then all went black.

* * *

_**He had heard the car approaching the cabin early. He wasn't prepared for visitors quite yet. Then it occurred to him that the only people possibly coming up this far could either be Jim or Kate Beckett.**_

_**Judging by the early morning time the visitor did so, he guessed it was Kate. Either way would work fine for him.**_

_**So he prepared for her arrival. **_

_**If it was her, indeed, she must have snuck out of the loft, flying under the radar. The protective detail put on her and Castle must have missed her departure.**_

_**Even better. He hadn't planned on it to happen so soon but he was happy to meet the savvy detective again. Even if it only was to prove to her that he was more intelligent than she could ever be.**_

_**Even just this.**_

_**And then the door opened and an unsuspecting female figure entered the cabin. Before she could react, he had knocked her down with the handle of a shovel - she sunk down to the ground, unconscious.**_

_**He lifted her up, carried her down into the cellar, let her glide down on a mattress and carefully tied her up. **_

_**Blood clotted on the back of her head, dampening her hair. The smell of cherries filled his nostrils and he let out a shrieking laugh.**_

_**She was here. With him. He would get his revenge.  
**_

* * *

**A/N: When you have one of the last chapters already written out and your only way to get there is this, then you have to do it. Apologies ;-) Reviews?**


	27. Raise the Stakes

**A/N: Yeah, I know ... mean? Yeah? I had to, I'm sorry. Except, I'm not! ;) - Enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter: 27 - Raise the Stakes**

_And then the door opened and an unsuspecting female figure entered the cabin. Before she could react, he had knocked her down with the handle of a shovel - she sunk down to the ground, unconscious._

_He lifted her up, carried her down into the cellar, let her glide down on a mattress and carefully tied her up._

_Blood clotted on the back of her head, dampening her hair. The smell of cherries filled his nostrils and he let out a shrieking laugh._

_She was here. With him. He would get his revenge._

* * *

"Her father's cabin?" asked Martha, incredulously. She hadn't assumed that Kate would run off first thing after their conversation but apparently that was actually what had happened the night before.

"Don't worry mother, she needs it. She'll come back in no time" Castle said, sounding more convinced than he actually felt. He felt a twinge in his stomach thinking about the fact that his fiancée was miles away in a deserted cabin in the woods. More so, he felt queasy because they had agreed on no more running. He desperately tried to convince himself that she didn't run.

"Shouldn't she have said anything?" asked Martha who apparently was very worried. Castle swept aside all of her objections and went to the 12th. He thought that one of his theories might come in handy today.

* * *

_**Slowly, carefully, one eye after the other, Kate woke up. At first, all she could feel was a dull ache at the back of her head and her hands and feet felt oddly sore and stiff. When she focussed hard enough, she could feel that both her hands and her feet were tied up. She could barely move and there was a pounding ache at the back of her head which indicated that she must have been hit by something.**_

_**When she tried to move, a cry of pain escaped her. That blow must have hit her pretty hard.**_

_**She could smell the faint remnants of blood in an air that was determined by a rather musky, earthy, rich smell. The air was moist and somewhat sticky and breathing wasn't too easy. She lay on a somewhat comfortable mattress which wasn't too dirty either. At least according to what she was able to see.**_

_**When her eyes adjusted enough to her surroundings, she could make out a small window that didn't let too much light into the room. Something else she saw made her heart stutter for a second. There were metal bars in front of her. She was in a cage. Three sides of it were massive walls and the fourth consisted of very stable looking metal bars. **_

_**She slowly and painfully got into a sitting position which wasn't all to easy with hands and feet tied up but she eventually managed to do it. With every movement, the zip ties cut deeper into her wrists and ankles and she noticed that she wasn't wearing her boots anymore.**_

_**"Looking for something?" a deep voice said from one of the far corners of the cellar. Before the man made his way out of the dark corner on the right from her, she already knew who it was.**_

_**"You've slept for quite a long time, Sleeping Beauty" he said and when he stepped closer to her, she could see the insanity dancing in his eyes. She shot him a 'yeah, I don't care what you say you bastard' look and he laughed.**_

_**"Not up for a little chat, Detective? Uh, that's too sad. I was just going to tell you more about your little stay with me here. About some of the rules I have for this place..."**_

_**"Rules" she snorted, unable to hold it in.**_

_**"I'm glad you decided to talk to me after all" he beamed and started to walk up and down, outside of the cage.**_

_**"See, I'm planning to have you stay here for a little more time, Kate, so there are certain rules I want you to obey, do you understand?" Kate didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything at all.**_

_**"I'll have food and water for you because I don't want you to starve. That's why you'll find a bottle and a little bowl attached to the bars. You'll be able to help yourself despite the zip ties, you'll figure it out. You're smart, aren't you? It's no use screaming because no one is gonna hear you anyway. You shouldn't try to escape either, because if you try, I can electrify the bars and send some nice little teaser-like shockwaves through your body. That's not gonna be nice, Kate. So ... " he trailed off and came one step closer toward her, still maintaining some distance to the bars and looked Kate in the eye. She stared back into his.**_

_**" ... don't make me."**_

* * *

All of the sudden everything happened very quickly. Agent Montrose had assembled all the data they had gained over the last week and had displayed them on one if the screens in the conference room. It showed the workplaces of the three victims, places they had had lunch at, business meetings. It showed their fitness clubs, their preferred metro connections, their town car service routes of the past two weeks. Soon they could visualize where they called a cab, where it took them and which places they used to shop at.

Montrose even added what Alexis could remember of her day in town, where she and her friends had spent time shopping and which busses and metro lines they had used. After a short while, they came across three spots where the lines overlapped and created an area convenient enough to hide in.

"It must have easy access to the metro" Castle said "so that he could escape quickly. With a fake beard and his persona blending in into the crowd that should not have been too difficult.."

"Agreed" Montrose said and maltreated his keyboard, typing away furiously on it until mere seconds later the metro stations were lit up on the map as well in a striking orange color.

"There" Esposito said and pointed at a spot on the map "you missed the coffee place close to Castle's loft. That's where he chose some of them, maybe all?"

"We don't know that yet, but it still is a valid point" said Agent Shaw and nodded at Montrose to add the location as well.

When any little particularity of the lives of Carol Jennings, Harmony Eddington and Maryanne Wilson was carefully mapped on the surface of New York City, Montrose tried to narrow the places down to ones where surveillance had been under maintenance. These areas were added, too. Soon a pattern started to form.

"He's moving" said Ryan after a while and everybody turned toward him.

"Can't you see? The surveillance was out of service for two days in this area" he pointed at the screen, indicating a two block range. "It then went out of service around the coffee place around Castle's place for two days."

"Ryan is right" said Castle, looking at the third area which could possibly have been a two block range in which Tyson had hidden as well. "The last two days the surveillance was down in this area."

On the spur of the moment, Castle had another idea. One he knew Esposito wouldn't like.

"Listen, 'sito, I know you like the woman but she's hiding something. Hey, Agent Montrose, can you hook us up with Tori Ellis' GPS signals from her phone? Can we place her someplace over the last few days?"

"Bro, she might not have anything to do with this" Esposito said, his defense weaker by the hour.

"I know, but we'll be sure of that one way or the other as soon as we add her into the equation." Castle answered and Agent Shaw nodded, the expression on her face fierce and determined. She sensed a breakthrough, sensed that she could decipher his pattern, find him before he even had the idea that they were coming after him.

A soft knock on the door startled them. It was Karpowski with a search warrant.

"Is that the search warrant for Tori Ellis' financial and cell phone records?" Shaw asked and Karpowski nodded.

"They actually issued a search warrant for her?" Castle wondered.

"Yeah" said Shaw and accepted the piece of paper from Karpowski who quickly retreated from the conference room to get back to work. "It was embarrassingly easy to get it. Even if it is a police officer that is concerned, the folks up there are keen on finding 3XK and writing it on their banners. It will help some of them with their respective elections." Castle shuddered as the memory of Senator William Bracken crossed his mind. He quickly tried to come back into reality, the sudden outburst of productivity startling him.

"I'll get in touch with her provider" Ryan said.

"I'll check her credit card statements" said Esposito.

"You go ahead" said Agent Shaw, dismissing the two of them. With Kate gone to the cabin of her father, she had almost naturally taken the lead of the group. even if it wasn't her territory at all.

With little to nothing for him to do, Castle stood there and simply stared at the screens in front of him.

"Fancy a coffee?" the female FBI agent said and he gladly accepted. They went into the break room and Shaw closed the door behind them.

"You seem tense" she stated without further introduction and Castle sighed.

"I'm worried" he said. "The cabin is out there in the woods, I am just not sure if its a good idea."

"She's a grown woman, you'd think she can handle the silence" Shaw grinned and poured two cups of coffee.

"I know she can" said Castle stubbornly and received the steaming cup from the Agent's outstretched hand. "Thanks."

"If it makes you worry any less, I'll have someone check on her" Shaw said.

* * *

**_Jolts of electricity shot through her veins, her bones - she even thought she could have felt a tingle in the thinnest hairs on her head. The pain that shot through her was excruciating, the back of her head hurt more that it had done in the past hour since she awoke._**

**_Then the pain stopped._**

**_"Didn't I mention that I don't want you to play around? You're not leaving early, Detective. Now you know what happens if you don't listen to me" Tyson's cold voice filled the room as he watched her crawl back to the mattress to lie down again._**

**_"Had to try" Kate spluttered as she reached the mattress and fell on it with a soft thud._**

**_"I know you had to" Tyson said, his tone comforting all of the sudden. "You're always trying so hard, Kate, isn't that right?" She just looked at him, expecting him to go on. She might as well listen to his goddam speech._**

**_"Trying to be a good cop. To be a good girlfriend. Your latest accomplishment, trying to be a good fiancée? Oh you've come so far only to fail once again. You're not gonna get the chance to be a good wife, because I am not allowing it. I will get my revenge and that means that both of you die. I'll make him watch you die or make you watch him die. Both possibilities are out there. Which one do you choose?"  
_**

* * *

**A/N: Reviews? :-)**


	28. Collateral Damage

**A/N: Thanks for the ongoing support. I hope you know that some of the angst is necessary. Tyson cannot appear and disappear without some damage done, so this is exactly what is going to happen. But alas, my friends, don't be too scared, okay? Promise?**

**And again, I wish I was Andrew Marlowe. Then I would own Beckett. And Castle. And ... you get it ;-) Enjoy! **

* * *

**Chapter 28 - Collateral Damage**

_"Didn't I mention that I don't want you to play around? You're not leaving early, Detective. Now you know what happens if you don't listen to me" Tyson's cold voice filled the room as he watched her crawl back to the mattress to lie down again._

_"Had to try" Kate spluttered as she reached the mattress and fell on it with a soft thud._

_"I know you had to" Tyson said, his tone comforting all of the sudden. "You're always trying so hard, Kate, isn't that right?" She just looked at him, expecting him to go on. She might as well listen to his goddam speech._

_"Trying to be a good cop. To be a good girlfriend. Your latest accomplishment, trying to be a good fiancée? Oh you've come so far only to fail once again. You're not gonna get the chance to be a good wife, because I am not allowing it. I will get my revenge and that means that both of you die. I'll make him watch you die or make you watch him die. Both possibilities are out there. Which one do you choose?"_

* * *

"Yo Castle, I don't think Beckett needs a babysitter" said Esposito and grinned at him. The Latino and his Irish colleague were still busy on their phones and computers but found the time to mock him after they realized that Castle had asked Agent Shaw to send someone up to the Beckett cabin.

"Yeah, probably a weak move" added Ryan and then went back to his phone call with a 'yeah, yeah yeah, still there, still there'.

"Seriously though, she won't like that."

"The last time she went up to that cabin I didn't check on her when I probably should have" said Castle and let out a very audible sigh "It could have saved us quite some time..."

"Uh, Castle, gross! No details!"

"What? No, no, that wasn't what I ... ugh, never mind 'sito, never mind."

Agent Shaw came out of the conference room and marched towards them. Determination coated her features and she smiled confident of victory. "This time, we're close" she said as she approached the detectives and the writer. "Anything new?"

"We're getting there, I'm done with my part..." said Esposito.

"... but honeymilk here is still busy..." added Castle and Ryan, who naturally turned around in a reflex when his annoying nick name came up, shot him a 'are you serious?' look that had Castle inwardly burst with laughter. A little fun and laughter. Exactly what they needed. Castle had no idea that he would be desperate for any laughter very soon.

* * *

**_"So you either wanna make me see Castle die and then die myself, or you wanna make him see me die and kill him, too?" _**

**_"This sums it up nicely, Detective, well done. I would not have expected anything less from you, really..." he trailed off and turned away from her. Kate had regained some of her power back but the aftershocks of the electricity still made her body numb and she was unwilling to move just now. She might as well try to get some information out of him. Cocky and self-centered as this bastard was, he might even start to boast about it and who knew, maybe there was a way for her to escape. One that he showed her himself. She needed to try._**

**_"How you're gonna do it, then, Jerry? There are so many players in this game, how are you sure that you're not outnumbered?"_**

**_"I AM THE ONLY PLAYER!" he shrieked and Kate knew that she had nailed her question. And timed it correctly because it didn't stop there, Tyson went on: I am the only player in this game! I have invented it! You have no idea what I've already done and what more there is to follow, Kate! You think you'll have me cornered, right? You think you can surprise me, make me miss a thing and then I will be down. That's what you're hoping for, I can see it faintly in your eyes. But that is not happening. I won't allow it. It is my game..."_**

**_"So what about the game ..." Kate began, trying to calm Tyson down a notch. She was painfully aware of the limitations of her situation and she knew that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her any given moment of her captivity. She needed a change of plan._**

**_"Where did the invitations come from? I really have no clue, come on Jerry, fill me in!"_**

**_"Oh, you would like to know THAT, wouldn't you?" Kate just nodded and despite the relative darkness in the cellar, he saw._**

**_"Well, I've been keeping close tabs on you all, Kate. Didn't you assume that already? It started three months after I was declared dead. I learned that Castle didn't believe that I was actually dead and Kate ... I could not allow him that! It had been the perfect scenario for me to officially be dead and to be able to murder again, under another identity. I would have done it somewhere else and no one would have suspected dead ol' Jerry to be the perp that did it ..."_**

**_"But everyone believed you were dead" Kate said vehemently "even I did!"_**

**_"That honors me, Kate, it really does" he smiled and insanity danced in his eyes as he came several steps closer to the metal bars of her cage "but of all people it was him that didn't believe it. Because his imagination is too good. He construes things like this himself, Kate, you of all people should know that, right?" She didn't say anything to that but she knew that he was right. _**

**_Exhibit A: He was a wordsmith. He played with characters, plots, ideas, feelings, missions and sometimes it must feel like he was playing God. He claimed that there was always a story behind the murders they were investigating and he was never wrong. It had mostly not been the person the evidence had pointed at. There was always some unexpected twist._**

**_Exhibit B: She of all people should know how Castle worked, what made him tick. She knew that he hid things from her but that didn't matter anymore. She of all people would understand how perfidious Tyson's plan was because both Kate and the serial killer knew exactly how Castle would react when he found out that Kate wasn't safe and sound in her father's cabin._**

**_"I can't have him doubt me. I can't have him understand me and I can't have him look through me. NO!" Tyson screamed again and his eyes flickered with rage and disgust. As did his voice when he started to speak again after a short moment of silence when all that Kate could hear was his ragged breathing and the sound of electronic devices, maybe a computer? She couldn't see anything behind him._**

**_"He's gonna pay for ruining my charade. He is gonna pay for not believing my story" he spat out. Kate decided that she might as well push him a little harder._**

**_"Still you didn't say a thing about the envelopes..." she tried to sound bored to annoy him even further but her voice betrayed her. It showed genuine curiosity and inquisitiveness._**

**_"Oh, right" he said, having calmed down slightly "you're right, Detective. So right..."_**

**_"Allow me to explain my motivations..." Tyson said, resuming his slow pace up and down her cage from earlier "I wanted to make it a riddle for you. To find clues, stop me maybe? I wanted to make you understand that I was still out there and that I knew more than you wanted me to know about your lives. Wasn't the proposal you were hoping for, Kate, huh?" he asked and without thinking Kate blurted out "No, it was not..."_**

**_It was funny how she hadn't even been able to tell her fiancée or her best friend Lanie that she had been somewhat disappointed with the proposal. Disappointed and satisfied at the same time, that would describe it. And here she sat with a multiple killer, a serial murderer who loved to kill woman. Someone that had her locked up and _****_tied up in a - as she assumed - sound-proof cellar. The irony about her being able to be open about her disappointment with one of the most dangerous men in the history of crime records was evident and struck her hard._**

**_"I really should not be talking to you about this" Kate muttered, feeling ashamed of herself._**

**_"Oh Detective" he said and knelt down to be on the same level as she was "it's part of my nature. People tell me things. I would have been a very good psychiatrist, people just tell things to me. They aren't afraid that I'd pass them on, they simply know that I'll keep their secrets safe. They're gonna be dead soon after, so what's the point?" Madness gleamed in his eyes and Kate involuntarily shivered._**

**_A thought occurred to Kate and she asked: "And what did Tori Ellis tell you?" _**

**_For mere fractions of a second Tyson was surprised and Kate could see a flicker of confusion on his face. If it wasn't for his aim to play this game from start to finish, he might have asked her what they knew about his relationship to Tori Ellis._**

**_"Ahhhh, Tori, beautiful, silly, influenceable Tori..."_**

**_He got back up on his feet and walked into the far right corner of the cellar which was still dipped in darkness but he slowly increased the light in the area and Kate gaped: He had a whole computer set placed there, microphones, headphones, three big monitors ... she couldn't make out everything but it looked like a lot more._**

**_"Are we in some sort of bat cave?" Kate snorted before she could help it and Jerry Tyson actually let out a laugh._**

**_"Funny, Detective, very funny" he said "but you're not comparing me to Batman, here, are you?"_**

**_"Probably not" she said and grinned._**

**_"You know, when you took Tori out of my little game of chess, I wasn't surprised by the move. She had left some breadcrumbs along the way and I actually planned o getting rid of her sooner or later..." _****_That fit Kate's recollection of Ellis' shocked face when she learned that one of the envelopes were marked with her name._**

**_"... but she turned out to be exceptionally helpful, that kid."_**

**_"Did she help you get into the precinct earlier this year?"_**

**_"Helped me with the cameras, the uniform, the floor plan, everything. I'm still surprised she wasn't caught. Tori is not as careful as I am..."_**

**_"I bet" Kate gritted her teeth.  
_**

* * *

"Now, let's see what we got" said Agent Shaw when everyone was back in the conference room and the door was firmly shut. This time, Captain Victoria Gates joined them after she had argued that she might as well briefed in the progress of their collection of data. So after Castle - 'Him of all people' Gates had thought - quickly gave her an overview about the single items visualized on the screen, Jordan Shaw took over the reign of the conference room and the team.

She looked at Ryan and the Irish took out one of his beloved notepads and started his contribution.

"Well, there are mostly work-related calls from her cell phone and she has no landline. She's still not settled perfectly and has given us a motel address in a more shabby part of town as her official billing address. However, I've had other places her phone was placed for a longer period of time. I am guessing for it to charge, three other shabby looking motels in different parts of town..."

"And guess where the models were?" Castle said, already knowing the answer.

"Your instincts are uncanny, Castle" said Ryan and indicated the three, now blue colored areas they had assumed Jerry to be in.

"So, she might have stayed in the same area that if he wanted to meet her, he could without being spotted at least by traffic cam?" Gates asked and Agent Shaw nodded. "Looks like it" the FBI agent answered and went on herself "and when would you know that private surveillance of shops, bars and of some buildings might be shut down as well?"

"At night" Castle answered again and it was Ryan that responded to this.

"Again, uncanny, Castle. The times where the phone was not moved were always between 2 and 5 o'clock in the morning. She must not necessarily have met 3XK, but she could have if she wanted to. She was waiting in the wings, so to say."

"Some of the credit card statements will make more sense now" Esposito added "there is a credit card statement for a certain coffee place which falls in the time where the surveillance was under routine maintenance."

"Hmmm" was all they could hear from Gates, who was still standing in the back of the all, careful not to disturb the ongoing dynamics of the agents, detectives and the writer.

"She's bought some nightvision googles and other smaller equipment which could lead to the assumption that we now know who had you under surveillance, Castle."

"Now that is something" Gates said, unable to hold her frustration back. One of them, a member of the police force had spied on another member of the police force and her ... boyfriend ... fiancée ... whatever, and it had happened under Gates' watch?

"This is the second time in this year that Jerry Tyson played us" Gates said and her voice was full of emotion "and this time we can assume that one of our own people has helped him to all of this."

"We don't have a confession... Esposito said.

"...yet" Ryan answered and looked his Captain in the eye.

"Do you want us to bring her in for questioning?"

"Has she left her desk, yet? Bring her here immediately if she hasn't, if she has, find her and bring her in. She's not leaving this place before she hasn't given me a full confession" Gates said, her determination now radiating off her like nothing.

Ryan and Esposito quickly left the conference room which left Gates, Agents Montrose and Shaw as well as Castle behind them and the latter got up from his seat and started to walk up and down the room with three pairs of eyes attached to him.

"You're not going to come up with one of your crazy theories, Castle, are you?" Shaw said and grinned "We don't have time for that..."

"Noo, noo" Castle muttered, thinking hard "Hey, Montrose?"

"Yes, Castle?"

"Can you find burner cells as well?"

"Um, sure, why?"

"Because ... if Tori has actually left her phone to charge when she was out there, meeting 3XK ... hypothetically, because we're just assuming here, right?"

"Then she must have had another phone to arrange a meeting" Shaw added and Montrose beamed, they were right. How hadn't they seen that?

"Right. She couldn't risk any of this be be found on her personal phone, since it's the same one she uses for work" Castle said.

"Okay, let's see what I can find for the nights and the areas" Montrose said and typed away on the keyboard while the others brainstormed on.

"What if she still has it?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Castle?" Gates asked.

"Well, what if she still has the burner phone? If she's still cleaning out her office desk, maybe she has it with her? Or it is in her room? She cannot have had the time to get rid of it!"

"Good thought, Castle!" Gates said and Castle felt oddly proud. It happened rarely that the Captain had something nice to say to him and he chose not to ruin it by saying something about it. Instead he went on: "If we can find it and find the places it's been to, we can find Tyson's phone as well. Given that they've actually met..."

"On it" said Montrose, whose multitasking abilities were outstanding. While they were waiting for the agent to finish his work, Shaw's cell phone rang.

"Shaw? Okay, ... okay. Oh. Yeah, that's ... okay. Yeah, I'll pass it on. Secure the area and have it swamped with agents. Turn every pebble, you hear me? Okay, good. Yes. Alright. Bye."

Castle looked at Shaw questioningly and saw his fears justified. Kate wasn't in her dad's cabin. He could see it in Shaw's eyes. He could also see that there must be more.

"What is it?" he said, fearing the answer.

"She isn't in the cabin. There's some blood on a mattress in the cellar but she isn't there."

* * *

**A/N: Reviews make me write faster. It's pathetic but it's the truth ;) Thoughts .. ? **


	29. Gnosis

**A/N: I know, I know, cliffhangers are bad. But we all need the slow, soft torture, right? :) Life has been crazy so excuse the wait. I'll enter my exam phase in a few days so I apologize in advance if studying needs to go first.  
But for now, go ahead and enjoy, 'cos this is going to be a long, bumpy ride! ;) **

* * *

**Chapter 29 - Gnosis**

_While they were waiting for the agent to finish his work, Shaw's cell phone rang._

_"Shaw? Okay, ... okay. Oh. Yeah, that's ... okay. Yeah, I'll pass it on. Secure the area and have it swamped with agents. Turn every pebble, you hear me? Okay, good. Yes. Alright. Bye."_

_Castle looked at Shaw questioningly and saw his fears justified. Kate wasn't in her dad's cabin. He could see it in Shaw's eyes. He could also see that there must be more._

_"What is it?" he said, fearing the answer._

_"She isn't in the cabin. There's some blood on a mattress in the cellar but she isn't there."_

* * *

The whole room went silent and shock washed over Castle's face. Then all hell broke loose.

Gates rushed off into her office to make some phone calls and Montrose hacked his keyboard even more frenetically than before, adding the location of the Beckett cabin into their equation. They had the advantage to only be behind by half a day and that sped things up - if Tyson didn't estimate them being so fast. After all, they didn't know that he had her, but if he actually did they needed to act fast.

Shaw didn't put her phone away but quickly dialed another number and spoke quietly to somebody on the other hand. Castle was too far gone to even listen to what she said. He just stared at the wall and his face went completely blank.

"He has her" he muttered "I know he has her ... I shouldn't have let her out of my sight, she shouldn't have been able to go there in the first place! She snuck out for heaven's sake, she snuck out and now he has her..."

Shaw who had ended her phone call softly patted his shoulder and said: "We're gonna get her, we're so close. We're just some hours behind and Tyson is on an agenda, maybe he didn't expect any of this and made some rushed decisions? You'll never know! We gotta question Detective Ellis and see what we come up with here" she gestured toward the still keyed up looking movements the FBI agent made.

"Yeah, yeah we should" said Castle, looking stressed and nervous.

Fear rippled through him as it had when Alexis had been kidnapped and flown all the way to Paris. He recalled telling Beckett that he would do whatever it took for a loved one and now it was the time to prove it once again. Kate had become a part of his family a long time ago. And he protected his family from any danger. Tyson needed to go down.

"We'll do whatever it takes, Castle, you have my word" Shaw said.

"You're the first FBI agent I actually believe this nonsense" he replied, hoping she understood that his remark was meant in an approving kind of way.

"I'm actually glad" she said and managed to wink at him "come on! We've got work to do!"

* * *

**_"We have _****_visitors" Tyson said in a low register and got up, apparently distracted by a flashing light signal from the computer system that was actually placed in the back corner of the room._**

**_Kate tried to sit more upright, taking in the confines of the room, its dimensions and opportunities for flight. Not that she'd get a chance to try anytime soon. She was pretty damn sure he would not let her out of site despite the electrifiable bars and her being tied up. She started to get hungry and thirsty, too. She slowly robbed toward the bar with the water bottle tied to it._**

**_"B.F. Skinner would have loved that" she snorted and got a chuckle in response._**

**_"I've always admired your intelligence, Detective, I really have" 3XK said and observed the monitor while Kate sucked on the refillable bottle, specially for fitness needs. And apparently quite handy for kidnapping situations._**

**_"What do you think your beloved Castle will do if he finds out that I have you?"_**

**_"How will he find out?" asked Kate after she had swallowed her sip of water._**

**_"You didn't actually believe that I haven't left a note?"_**

**_"Yeah, another invitation?"_**

**_"Oh, come on, Kate" he turned around, facing her "who else do I need for a spectacular beach wedding than the bride, which I have and the groom, who is Prince Charming and will come for his princess. And I've got all my little pawns, your little friends and co-workers. I have them all. Who else would I need?"_**

**_"What about Castle's dad?" Kate said. It occurred to her that Tyson probably didn't have the faintest clue about a spy dad and his involvement in the rescue of Alexis Castle._**

**_Apparently he didn't have any clue._**

**_"His ... dad?" he asked, looking completely taken aback and somewhat frightened. Frightened that there was some information that he didn't have, wasn't able to pull, none of his sources had known. Neither had he._**

**_"Yeah, his dad" said Kate and could not help herself. She needed to provoke him once more, see how much he actually learned about them. Kate needed to be sure that there wasn't a leak, that they weren't being spied on when the Paris incident happened so she added: "Don't tell me you didn't know that he had one, Jerry, 'cos that would be rather embarassing. Knowing that no one had THE talk with you when you were younger..."_**

**_"SHUT THE HELL UP!" he yelled, losing his control. He slowly go closer to her and she could see the remote for the bars in his hand, he held it up to prove his point._**

_**"Kate, Kate ..." he said, his voice low and dangerous "... do you really think I only have the electricity to cause you pain? Wouldn't that be boring?"  
**_

* * *

"I need the agents to report back to my while they search the area, turn every stone and every leaf you find. I need results and I need them fast" bellowed Shaw into her cell phone and ended the call.

"How far are we with satellite connection to the search team?" she asked Montrose.

"On it" he said, sounding exhausted "I've added the telephone data of Detective Ellis' work phone into the equation so that we can exactly see where it stayed when it wasn't used. Now all we need is her burner, if it exists!"

"I might be able to help with that" Detective Ryan's voice echoed through the room and he held up an evidence bag with a small, flip-open phone.

"Where's Detective Ellis?" Castle asked.

"Esposito and L.T. are bringing her into interrogation 1, I should probably tell Gates. She wanted to go in herself."

"Probably" said Shaw and took the evidence bag out of Detective Ryan's hand.

After Ryan hurried out of the room and the burner was given to Agent Montrose for analysis, another thought occurred to Castle. One that wouldn't let itself get swiped away by other thoughts, not even the thoughts full of worry. He just had to make sure...

"Hey Jordan" he whispered and the FBI agent looked at him, surprised by the sudden usage of her first name. Castle gestured her closer and she approached him to stand next to him when he whispered again.

"What if Tyson placed some sort of listening device in the precinct? He doesn't have help in here anymore. At least not as far as we know. One accomplice was already a bit much, but two .. I don't think so!"

"Right there with you, but what are you referring to?"

Castle nodded towards Kate's desk and the small toy that proudly sat on her computer screen.

"This thing?" Shaw asked, incredulously.

"All I know is that it was placed differently. And I know you're gonna say that my mind is playing tricks on me and that I can't think straight, but Jordan, I can!" Castle got agitated and excited and Jordan could tell that he was in his writer's mode. Where all the stories made sense. Bottom line was, this time it did, too.

"That would mean he actually planned on Ellis' cover to blow up" Shaw muttered and Castle nodded fervently. "Time to see what she has to say."

* * *

**_Her cheek felt swollen and she could practically feel the bruising on her thighs and shins. He had kicked her pretty hard and that one blow she took almost had sent her back into blissful oblivion._**

**_"Don't underestimate me, Detective" he gritted his teeth and turned his back towards her, leaving the cage and carefully locking the door._**

**_"Oh, I never have!" she said._**

**_"Oh, really?" he laughed and his laugh became an even happier shriek when he took a look at his monitor again. "Look, the visitors have quadrupled!"_**

**_Indeed, you could see several uniformly dressed men and women around the Beckett cabin, a couple of vans parked in the distance._**

**_"You have the cabin under surveillance?" she asked and 3XK just nodded. Always one step ahead, that bastard. So the feds were there. Probably not long until they found the hint Jerry said he had placed. But what then? Would it lead them to her cellar? Probably not. So where would it lead them, then? Also there was his promise, his threat. She could choose to see Castle die and die herself or have him watch her die first and he'd follow her, eventually. _**

**_"Have you thought about my suggestion?"  
_**

**_"Suggestion? What kind of suggestion did you give me? Watch my fiancée die and then die myself or choosing the other way around? How can this be a choice at all?"_**

**_"Oh, Kate, it is one. You just didn't get to see the full option" he grinned and Kate fell silent. If there was STILL more to the story 3XK had unfolded in front of their very eyes, then he was not only one step but several steps ahead. Kate was intelligent enough to remain silent. Eventually, Jerry would turn back to his monitor to watch the feds look for easter eggs. At least from Kate's afar position the two activities had a striking effect.  
_**

* * *

With one quick movement the little plushie was in a jute bag which Ryan kept in his drawer in case he needed to go food shopping after his shift. Even if Jenny wasn't far along in her pregnancy, the cravings had already started. He assumed, though, that it was mainly because Jenny now knew that she was indeed pregnant.

Ryan hurried into Forensics to clear the plushie and to see if any residues of fluids were on there. After all, it was Jerry Tyson they dealt with. The item needed to be disarmed and secured for their future use. 'Also it cannot hurt to unplug him from our thoughts' Ryan thought sarcastically and even increased his pace. There was no way that he would miss Captain Victoria Gates in the interrogation room, questioning a fellow officer.

Said Captain stood in front of said interrogation room and debated who to take into the room with her. The logical choice would be the most experienced member of their conglomerate of different identities. Agent Jordan Shaw should go in.

"Castle, you comin'?"

As if he had just seen a combination of Derek Storm as the new Marvel superhero and the latest C-list society couple breaking up in front of his eyes, Castle just stood there, unable to say a thing. He opened his mouth at the random impression of his fiancée which her boss had just made but his eyes sparkled.

"Are you coming, we don't have any time to waste" the Captain repeated herself and Castle set himself into motion.

"Right" he said and followed the Captain into interrogation 1 wearing the proudest smile of his life.

Esposito just stood there, shaking his head in disbelief.

Shaw grinned and thought 'Beckett will just love that!' and then remembered that they had to find her first. Her face fell again.

* * *

Agent Montrose heard the frantic beeping of his machine and got up, startled. When was the last time that he had actually fallen asleep on a case? He couldn't remember, all he could focus on was the clear indication that he had indeed found a second burner phone.

And it was still active.

Someone was using it at the very moment.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to write the interrogation scene, too, but I am supposed to be in bed. So I'll go. Hope you've enjoyed, see you soon! Promise! xoxo**


	30. Concede Defeat

**A/N: I had to write. I really had to and I loved it and you'll see why. Let's just say I love a fierce Gates ... We're still in a 'T' rating because I don't think K+ would fully suffice (started with ch. 26 as indicated) and our very special friend has a very, very, very mean plan ;) Enjoy ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 30 - Concede Defeat**

_Agent Montrose heard the frantic beeping of his machine and got up, startled. When was the last time that he had actually fallen asleep on a case? He couldn't remember, all he could focus on was the clear indication that he had indeed found a second burner phone._

_And it was still active._

_Someone was using it at the very moment._

* * *

"I am sick of you" Gates said, her voice strong and determined. She sat down on the chair on one side of the interrogation room table and Castle quickly raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'What a way to start an interrogation' he thought and sat down as well.

Detective Ellis sat on the opposite side of the table and looked startled for a few seconds. Then she composed herself again and simply stared at the Captain.

"I am sick of you sitting in front of me, looking like you didn't do anything while you're planning your next lie in your head. I am so very sick of you inviting Jerry Tyson, a multiple murderer, into this place, helping him make himself comfortable here and incriminating a member of my team in his twisted ploy."

Castle couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips. She had actually called him a member of her team in an interrogation. If he remembered later, he needed to mark the day in his calendar. But now it was time to break Detective Ellis' resistance.

"So?" the younger woman simply said, an eyebrow raised in annoyance.

"So you can either tell me what you know to help save a fellow detective or you'll go straight down into prison. I've already made several calls. You'll be processed today, no cell in my precinct for you tonight. Just several beautiful ladies in prison." Gates said and Ellis' face fell slightly.

"And you know ... they'll probably find out rather sooner than later that you are a cop, honey."

Ellis cringed and a shocked expression began to form on her face as she understood the serious tone and the determination of her superior.

"Not that you won't go into prison eventually anyways, Detective, there is no doubt about that. I want you to tell me what you know about Jerry Tyson's plans, and I want you to not waste my time here. Otherwise the lovely ladies in prison will know that you deserve a special treatment the moment you enter their proximity. I guarantee that!"

"I am not saying anything" Ellis spat out, all her neutrality forgotten and a mixture of panic and loyalty shone through her body language.

"Don't protect him, Tori" Castle said out of nowhere, talking to the Detective like he had been talking to Alexis, his voice soothing and reassuring. As he was watching her face making the transition from calm, determined and stubborn to shaken and insecure, he had seen it. Something he hadn't expected but something that did make sense. The Detective was in love with 3XK. He was loved by someone and if he knew, he didn't care. And Tori was probably painfully aware of that but it didn't change the way she saw him.

He could feel Gates shift on her seat, her body language asking questions and demanding answers. He went on.

"Don't protect him, Tori, because it will do you no good. This hasn't done you any good so far, has it? Even if it seemed like it did? He has been distant, untouchable. He might have told you some stuff, private stuff, stuff that sounded like he hasn't shared it before. But he has. With his victims. You're lucky to be alive. And you need to help us find Kate ... alive. Because nothing that you'll do will make him love you the way you love him. He isn't capable of love, never has been."

A single tear found its way down Tori's cheek and her shoulders fell.

"You're an intelligent woman, Tori, and I bet this is why he has kept you alive. He wanted intelligent company, someone that he could rely on when he needed to. But he is a loner, someone who works on his own. He cannot tolerate mistakes, especially not his own. What if he decides that you're a mistake that he must eradicate?"

"He won't do that!" she shouted with a force that neither Castle nor Gates had expected from her and the sudden outburst seemed to equally distress Detective Ellis and she tried to calm herself down.

Gates didn't give her a chance to do so.

"He would. And you know that. Your name is on one of the envelopes. You're on a list. And only he knows what being on this list will mean. I wonder how you can even sit her, knowing that he is holding a NYPD police officer hostage as we speak. It just makes me sick to think that you could help us to a better ending here, Tori, and it makes me _SICK_ that you refuse to cooperate."

Ellis didn't say anything and some tears silently found their way down her cheeks.

"You know what? I think we're done here for now" said Gates and got up. Castle did the same. Before they left the interrogation room, he gestured Gates to go on and remained in the room. He closed the door and turned back towards the Detective who was still crying and some silent sobs were mixed under her ragged breathing.

"You really do love him, don't you?" Castle asked in a low, calm voice and walked towards the chair to stand opposite to where Ellis was sitting.

She simply nodded.

"And I love Kate."

She now looked him in the eyes, aware of the strain and the worry that she saw in them. And the love. He loved his woman like she loved her man and Kate would get hurt, was probably already by now. Could she let it happen? Should she have let anything happen?

She didn't get a chance to ask herself more than these two questions. Then Esposito switched off the video and audio surveillance of the room and she found herself alone with a man. A man that loved someone.

* * *

**_The activity on his monitor increased all of the sudden and Kate was only able to make out a weird mush of colors and shapes. It seemed as if the sudden burst of energy came from the fact that the FBI agents did find the hint which 3XK hid for them._**

**_"What did you write? Might as well tell me, Jerry..." she said._**

**_"Ah, Kate, demands, so many demands..."_**

**_"I'm just curious, that's all..."_**

**_He didn't say anything but Kate could tell that he was flattered she had asked. It was all about attention, the more the better._**

**_"It says 'You're too late.'."_**

* * *

Castle left the interrogation room several minutes later to find everyone at the precinct working at rapid speed, people were running down the corridors, some were on the phone eagerly making phone calls and soon he spotted Gates in the midst of the somewhat organized chaos.

"What is going on?" he asked, startled by the sudden buzz of energy that the room inherited.

"Agent Montrose was able to locate Tyson's burner phone" said Esposito, looking more hopeful the more activity arose around them.

"Really?" Castle asked and took the sight of his family in. Ryan, pushing a new murder board through the room, followed by Karpowski who balanced two boxes full of evidence. Then there were L.T. and some of the other officers who turned the desks sideways to create more room. Shaw almost ran into some obstacles being on the phone with a fellow agent and uttering short orders into the speaker.

The sudden hope that grabbed a firm hold of Castle's heart was big. His heart pounded heavily but happily and he became aware of how much he loved this place, his friends, his family. Even if there was a traitor among them, one that sat in interrogation 1 and cried heavily.

"Let's double-check because Ellis spilled an address, too!" he said and Gates raised an eyebrow.

"Just ... don't ask."

"Oh, I better not" she said.

Agent Montrose confirmed the address that Ellis had given Castle as the exact same one that the GPS signal for Tyson's burner phone had indicated and satellite connection to the precinct was in place.

"How far is that from here?" Castle said, agonized by the fact that he had to leave it in the hands of the FBI.

"Too far to get there all too soon" answered Esposito "but the Feds are already on their way. Shaw has sent the best men she could find, Castle. Kate is gonna come home."

Esposito squeezed his arm in encouragement.

"What happens with Tori?" Esposito asked.

"I'll still have her processed to prison later today, after we see how things turn out here. We've still some things that we need to sort out to see what she'll be charged for exactly. We can accuse her of complicity with a dangerous serial killer, she didn't give us his whereabouts when she had the chance and she let him into a police station. These are some strong accusations and she definitely is going to do time." Gates answered.

Esposito still looked sad and disappointed. He needed to re-define his standards for women that should get close to him since it didn't seem to work out. Except for Lanie. She was more true than anything Esposito had ever held dear.

* * *

**_"No, NO, NOOO, where are they going?" Tyson screamed at the computer screen in terror. Something was not going according to plan. They could never have processed the building in its entirety, not in the small amount of time that the Feds spent there._**

**_Something was very, very wrong._**

**_"You we're going to tell me about Tori, Jerry, remember?" Kate said and tried to keep the conversation afloat. It could also provide a distraction, you'd never know when you needed one. 'Learned that one from Castle' Kate thought affectionately. He was rubbing off on here, in one way or the other. She looked at her ring finger, surprised to find her engagement ring still into place. Jerry must have followed her gaze because he said: "It loosened when you went down, but I put it back on. It's a symbol, I wanted you to have that reminder of your failure."_**

**_"Words" she snorted and he shot her a devilish look._**

**_"Words, Detective? Do you want me to come into your little 'compartment' so I can show you again how I work with 'words'?"_**

**_She better shook her head now, otherwise he would do it. So she did. Bruised and battered, her hair still dirty with now dried blood she did only want to go through it again if she had to. If she had to do it for HIM._**

**_"I met Tori in a bar. I sat there, all by myself when she walked into the room. A beauty, without a doubt and she proved to be quite intelligent, too. This is a rare breed. You're one of those, too. Savvy and beautiful." He came closer to take a better look at Kate's face. She blew a strand of her hair out of her face and stared back._**

**_"You know when I was watching you and Castle make love..." Kate gasped._**

**_"... and you were so oblivious of my presence ..." his voice became excited at the memory of it._**

**_"... you were a different person. Soft. Warm. Oblivious. Blissfully happy. But Kate, the thing is ..." he turned his back towards her again and paused for a moment "...the thing is that you can't be happy. He doesn't deserve to be happy and he won't be if you're dead!"  
_**

* * *

**A/N: We're going to see if the address is actually correct and how the Feds are going to handle either situation. G'night folks, I hope you liked? :-)**


	31. Alakazam Jackass

**A/N: I have not much to say this time, just that I wish you a fun ride with this one. See you at the end! **

* * *

**Chapter 31 - Alakazam Jackass**

_"I met Tori in a bar. I sat there, all by myself when she walked into the room. A beauty, without a doubt and she proved to be quite intelligent, too. This is a rare breed. You're one of those, too. Savvy and beautiful." He came closer to take a better look at Kate's face. She blew a strand of her hair out of her face and stared back._

_"You know when I was watching you and Castle make love..." Kate gasped._

_"... and you were so oblivious of my presence ..." his voice became excited at the memory of it._

_"... you were a different person. Soft. Warm. Oblivious. Blissfully happy. But Kate, the thing is ..." he turned his back towards her again and paused for a moment "...the thing is that you can't be happy. He doesn't deserve to be happy and he won't be if you're dead!"  
_

* * *

_Don't think I didn't deserve what I got_

_Don't think I didn't deserve what I lost_

_I run empty 'til I _

_I feel nothing inside._

_I run empty 'til I_

_I feel nothing inside_

_Don't think I didn't deserve what I got._

_(Tegan & Sara, I Run Empty - Heartthrob Deluxe Version Bonus Track)_

* * *

_**"And how exactly are you planning to do this, Jerry?" Kate asked, eager for an ongoing distraction from the computer monitors. She knew that she could make him talk for a little while longer. If she interpreted the movements on the monitor correctly, the Feds had found a lead to her current destination. They just had to, she would just believe it until all of this was finally over and she was back home.**_

_**"I still have one of my biggest pawns placed in your precinct Kate, don't forget that. Tori is able to get out of there, unseen, with little effort. She might not be as careful or as intelligent as I am, but she sure has some amiable qualities..."**_

_**He carefully examined Kate's face. **_

_**"That's an awful cut you have there" he remarked and gestured toward her right eye.**_

_**"Then you probably shouldn't have hit me" she **_**_retorted and Tyson smiled._**

**_"You and your big mouth, Kate..."  
_**

* * *

"The team is in position!" bellowed Shaw and Castle, Ryan and Esposito gathered around the monitors in the conference room, its door wide open so that the rest of the detectives in the room could also learn the latest developments.

"Floor plans?" asked Esposito.

"Already discussed on the go" said Shaw and Esposito looked impressed. "What, we're no amateurs?"

The Hispanic mumbled something unintelligible, looked down but grinned. He was always up for a good tease.

"How do you make sure she's safe?" Castle asked, concerned.

"We assume that Tyson must have made some adjustments to the building in total so right now some of the agents are observing the object from afar, trying to find hidden cameras or other modifications that are visible to us from outside." Agent Montrose added and went on "we cannot be sure that it is completely safe for any of our man and women to go in there, but we try everything we can to minimize the risk for anyone, especially Detective Beckett."

"If I had to guess, he's probably keeping her in the cellar" Ryan said and pointed at the photo of the building. "All other places are not covered well enough and it should have just one entry, so he can control who gets in and who doesn't."

"But then we would need the moment of surprise, right?" said Castle, looking at the combat-experienced member of the team and Esposito answered.

"Yeah, that's right, Castle. If this is the only way in and Beckett is indeed down there, our only shot will need some surprise. If he can't escape from there, he might not hesitate killing her, even if they kill him after they get in."

"Yeah, he is bastard enough to actually do that" Shaw added, looking a little worried.

The satellite connection creaked and the reporting agent gave them the latest status report.

"Building is surrounded. So far we have found two cameras on the building and another one in a tree, not far away. We're preparing them now."

"Roger that" Shaw responded.

"What did he mean, preparing?" Castle asked.

"The plan is to cut them off the power supply all at once so that Jerry is blindfolded when we go in. This needs some serious coordination but we've done it before, Agent Walker is one of the best" she reassured the team, sensing their obvious distress and concern for their team leader and friend.

* * *

_**Jerry went back to his monitor, to switch on a second one. On it, he displayed what looked like the **_**_periphery of the building they were currently in. Kate recognized it immediately, it was one of the other cabins in the same area as the Beckett cabin. It had belonged ... NO!_**

**_"It's Percy Tyson's house!" she blurted out, her eyes wide open._**

**_She had known the old gentlemen for a long time and had been shattered when he passed away at the age of 92 a couple of years ago. She remembered interesting campfire discussions between her dad and Percy where they would discuss politics, economy and the legal system. Her mother would have laughed and would have added some witty remarks._**

**_Although she would not have understood all the topics the adults had touched upon, she always sensed the friendly atmosphere between them, even if they agreed to disagree._**

**_"It is, indeed" Jerry answered, unable to hide the pride in his voice._**

**_"Is that why you started killing, Jerry? When he died? Is that where it started?" _**

**_"It's not that easy, Detective Beckett" he said, observing the second monitor with care. He could not detect any movement out in the woods and he was pleased with it. Whatever had made the Feds leave the Beckett cabin, they hadn't found this place and he and his game were safe._**

**_"Is it ever?" she said, sarcastically._**

**_He turned back to her and went to the shelf right next to the iron bars on the right from her little cage and fetched an object. He opened a plastic box and put some pre-cut pieces of an apple into the bowl that was attached to the metal bars of the cage._**

**_"Eat" he demanded._**

**_She looked at him, startled._**

**_"Why? Where's the point?"_**

**_"Well, Detective, as it seems as if you're bound to stay with me for a little while longer, I suggest you eat."  
_**

* * *

"We've found a second in a tree, preparing it now. The number of cameras on the building remain two" Agent Walker reported back after five more minutes which seemed to Castle like being fifty to fifty-five. He ran his fingers through his hair and paced up and down the room, Esposito and Ryan stood on the other side of the room, watching him with worried expressions on their faces.

"D'you reckon she's fine?" Ryan asked.

"These guys are pros, I don't see a reason why she shouldn't be" Esposito answered.

"Yeah, Javi, but what about Tyson?"

"I don't think he is done with his strange game that he played. You and I we both know that he has to finish things. That'll be the case here, too.

"We're in position, no further cameras were found. We're preparing simultaneous shut-down and entering right now." Agent Walker reported and Shaw said "Understood, be careful Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an NYPD officer in there we'd like to get back!"

Captain Gates had silently returned to the conference room and patted Castle's arm. He turned toward her and she shot him a reassuring look and he nodded.

The atmosphere in the room was loaded with emotions ranging from suspense to hope and the anticipation of the coming events had their hearts beat faster. What if something went wrong? What if Tyson decided to kill Kate on a whim? What if he freaked out? What if they were too late? What if she wasn't even there?"

They would soon find out since they could hear the FBI team approach the building now, live on speaker.

* * *

**_Kate put her mouth into the small bowl and fetched a slice of apple with her teeth and bit off a piece. While she chewed and swallowed, Tyson watched her._**

**_"That's better" he said._**

**_"But I owe you an explanation as to the choice I've given you earlier. I had planned it all differently but then you changed things. I didn't ever allow you to change anything, yet you did. So I needed to re-think my strategies. And Tori will do all the rest. If she hasn't already."_**

**_"What if they caught her? What use will she be if she sits in a holding cell?"_**

**_"Oh she won't be transferred to a holding cell in your precinct, Detective. Your Captain is going to be so disappointed with her that she will order her to be transferred to prison immediately. So she'll be sitting in one of your interrogation rooms, not heavily guarded and can still fulfill her part of the plan, as I asked her to."_**

**_Kate was worried. Tyson was right, the interrogation room door and one police officer standing in front of it was nothing compared to iron bars of the holding cells. She saw it herself, those metal bars were very difficult to overcome. Especially when someone was able to _****_electrify them with one small press of a button. She shuddered._**

**_"So, Detective, I'm still ahead of the game after all."_**

**_"And what's Tori going to do? Kill Castle?"_**

**_"Exactly this" he answered, a devilish grin on his face. "And she would do that for me, she would do anything for me."_**

**_"And how exactly were you planning on making me watch it, then?"_**

**_"Did I mention that you could watch? No, I was gonna make you listen to it." He turned around to his media station and minimized the window with the camera perspective of the periphery of the house._**

**_Instead he tried to access what looked like an audio steam. An agonized scream escaped him when he realized that he couldn't. Something was off, very off.  
_**

* * *

The door to the interrogation room had closed behind Castle and had left Tori Ellis alone to think. She knew that the door was guarded and that the room was under surveillance after the 'incident' with Castle. She touched her left cheek which still burned.

If Castle had done one thing, he had convinced her of his love for Detective Beckett. And he made her realize that she could not have the same, at least not with the person she had wrongly chosen for that.

So she had abandoned her plan, their plan. She wouldn't try to escape, she wouldn't do any of it. She looked at the small capsule in her hand and slowly lifted her hand close to her mouth.

She was going to end it all. Now.

* * *

As agreed, the special force agents set themselves into motion. Camera cables were cut at the same time as the first members of the special unit moved quickly toward the house to destroy the remaining two cameras attached.

Two agents formed the advance party, both armed and equipped but dressed in black. They quickly oriented themselves in the rooms of the house and searched them quickly before they ordered the other task force members in.

Their suspicion was soon confirmed, the only place for Tyson and Kate to be located at must be the cellar and there was only one way down there.

* * *

_**"What's going on" Tyson muttered to himself, confused and angry at the same time.**_

_**"I don't know, Jerry, what do you think is going on?" Kate mocked him, her confidence growing. She could not be sure since he had minimized the video surveillance on his computer screens, but it sure looked like some of the cameras were not working anymore and Kate took this as a good sign. Especially since all the cameras stopped working at the same time. She grinned.**_

_**Tyson was so worked up about the missing audio surveillance he had installed at the precinct that he didn't seem to care. He didn't react to her mockery. Kate, however, knew that she needed him to stay where he was. If special agents were actually as close as she hoped, she should not be close to him, there shouldn't be any risk of her being hurt in the course of her rescue.**_

_**So she stopped teasing him and simply waited what he would do. She slowly crawled back onto her mattress, away from him. She pressed her back against the cold wall and waited, waited for the things that **_**_were bound to happen. She would be free again, soon. She was sure of that.  
_**

* * *

L.T. wasn't sure what did it. His instincts told him to check back with his colleague, even if she was kept in the interrogation room as a suspect. He opened the door dynamically and abruptly only to find his colleague on the floor, curled up in a ball.

He got closer and knelt down beside her.

She had foam around her mouth and her eyes stared into nowhere. Cramps shuddered through her.

So L.T. called for help.

* * *

The sudden movements around the interrogation room caught their attention at once and Esposito and Ryan rushed off to learn what was going on.

"Did you already call the paramedics?" Esposito called out, as he took in the sight before him.

L.T. and Karpowski knelt close to Ellis, working over her with First Aid measures.

"Sure did" shouted L.T. and Ryan took a closer look at the still twitching detective.

"Looks like she poisoned herself" he stated and grimaced. "Like we didn't have that just recently."

The command of an officer down helped with the response time of the paramedics team and soon after they were gathered around the female detective, helping L.T. and Karpowski with the medical expertise they had.

"We're getting her to the closest hospital" the paramedic said after she was put on the stretcher. L.T. volunteered to ride with the paramedics as detective Ellis was still a suspect in several crimes.

Ryan and Esposito hurried back into the conference room to find all other people staring at them questioningly. Ryan just shook his head and his eyes simply said 'Let's talk about this later, now we have other things to do."

"Power supply going down in 3 ... 2 ... 1" Agent Walker reported.

* * *

_**The light went off. Kate let out a sigh of relief. It couldn't be long until they found her, until someone came down and killed this bastard that held her hostage. It just couldn't be long.**_

_**She heard Tyson curse several unspeakable curses and then it all happened very fast. Kate couldn't see anything except some shapes and forms and then she heard a very loud thud of someone that had been tackled onto the ground with extra force.**_

_**And she knew that it was over.  
**_

* * *

The sounds that they heard through the speaker were harder to take in than any of those made in a slasher movie. The uncertainty about the meaning of the sounds had them waiting for any feedback from the special agents. Finally Agent Walker gave them what they needed to hear:

"Suspect down. Officer safe."

"_ALAKAZAM JACKASS_" Castle bellowed and his eyes filled with tears. He pulled Ryan and Esposito in a weird threesome hug and the relief was tangible in the room. Captain Gates let out a relieved sigh as well. It was one way that she might have lost one of her best detectives to the Attorney General's office but it was certainly another if she had to lose her to a serial killer. She was very thankful that she didn't.

"Roger that" Shaw said and beamed. "See, like I said!"

Castle grinned and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I never had a doubt. I trust your word" he muttered so that only she could hear it.

Cheers from the other room made them aware that an audience had formed, eager to learn if her fellow detective was alive and well.

"How is Detective Beckett?" Shaw asked and the response came quickly in form of Kate's voice.

"A little battered and bruised, but fine"

"We're relieved, Detective."

"Is Rick there?" Kate asked and the use of his first name had everyone look at him in awe and surprise.

"Where else would he be?" joked Shaw and added "he can hear you."

"Rick? I love you, Rick"

He beamed and quickly said "I love you, too, now come home!"

"I'll learn how to fly"

* * *

**A/N: I have gotten a medical review! How awesome is this? Thanks for explaining some stuff and pointing at some incorrect ideas that i must have had, I apologize for my non-existent knowledge of the human body :D and I thank you - I'll see that I correct it as soon as possible. :-)**

We're not done, Jerry is not dead ;) If you liked it, review it please? :)


	32. Disentanglement

**A/N: Your reviews had me tearing up. Seriously, thanks my lovelies, I've enjoyed the ride immensely. But remember we're not fully done...**

* * *

**Chapter 32 - Disentanglement**

_"Is Rick there?" Kate asked and the use of his first name had everyone look at him in awe and surprise._

_"Where else would he be?" joked Shaw and added "he can hear you."_

_"Rick? I love you, Rick"_

_He beamed and quickly said "I love you, too, now come home!"_

_"I'll learn how to fly"_

* * *

As far as the eye could see one could only spot happy, relieved faces. Officers hugging, smiling, resuming their work, re-arranging their workplaces, trying to find ways to go back to their daily business. Although recent events had once again proved that Castle and Beckett seemed to attract these kinds of situations magically, no one did really care as long as they had a turn for the better. Miraculously, it tended to work out in their favor. Things slowly calmed down but no one forgot about Detective Ellis who was still in a critical condition. Kate had only reported back that she was instructed to kill Castle and so far that was all they knew. L.T. stayed at the ICU of the nearest hospital where Ellis was treated and reported back whenever he got any piece of information.

"It's a logical choice" said Shaw "she must have realized that she couldn't follow Tyson's orders forever and she didn't want to. Whatever made her change her mind..."

She shot Castle a look that basically said 'I guess I know what you did in there' and continued: "... she's gonna be convicted for her crimes anyway. If she makes it."

"There are other ways out" Esposito pointed out but Ryan contradicted "Not if you're already in too deep. Come on, we all know the feeling!"

"What about 3XK?" Castle asked.

"The FBI has volunteered to take this dirtbag off our hands. You don't have to see him ever again, because he is going directly into prison." Castle skeptically raised an eyebrow, recollecting the fact that Jerry Tyson needed more than a simple prison to be held for life.

"Oh, don't worry Mr. Castle, he will be placed in a maximum security prison with added personal which will be thoroughly and repeatedly checked. There is no way Jerry Tyson will ever run free." Shaw said.

Her fellow agent had left the room some time ago and had ventured off into the break room where he found a comfortable and quiet place on the couch to relax. They all felt the need to get to their respective homes after a day as stressful as that but Kate hadn't arrived, yet. She had been checked by paramedics and had been signed off sick for a week to relax and guarantee a full recovery. After having been held hostage, the paramedic recommended a session with her psychiatrist which Kate would book as soon as she had settled in.

She didn't want to put things off anymore, not with him, not after what had almost happened. There was no way that she would sacrifice one more day with insecurity or building up a wall against her heart. Those days were over. No more thinking about a career with the Attorney Genera's office, no more thinking about a career there. Maybe, eventually, another opportunity would come up and if the time and circumstances would be right, why not?

She sat in one of the FBI vans which was headed to New York City and in the distance she could see the city's skyline already. The van had the typical new car smell and comfortable seats. Even though she had been put like a light after the blow that she had received and had slept for a couple of hours, she felt tired and slumped back into her seat, her eyelids heavy.

She didn't want to fall asleep but the temptation was clearly there. The only thought that kept her awake was her fiancée. She couldn't wait to fall in his arms, to being guarded by his strong, masculine frame. He was her safe haven, she needed him like she needed air. Jerry Tyson actually made her understand something in the course of her abduction, even if it only lasted less than a day. He had made her see how special her connection to Castle was. The degree of Tyson's obsession with the two of them was insane and Tyson himself might as well be called insane, but he had seen things Kate sometimes forgot. She promised herself to never do it again. Ever.

* * *

L.T. waited patiently and looked at each doctor that went in or out of the ICU unit of the hospital but no one seemed to be bothered by his presence. After two hours of waiting he reported back to Captain Gates and asked what he should be doing about this. She assured him that she'd talk to the hospital's superiors and that she would get him someone that reported to him alone or Karpowski, who volunteered to take turns with him and was due to arrive in an hour.

Fifteen minutes later the doors of the ICU opened again and a doctor in her mid thirties came out, looking exhausted. She got rid of all excessive gear she was still wearing and searched the waiting area for the police officer.

"Detective?" she called out and L.T. came closer, looking at her expectantly.

"Hi, I am Dr. Raynn Wilson, I am one of the doctors currently treating Detective Tori Ellis" she held out her right hand and L.T. shook it and introduced himself, too.

"What can you tell me about her current condition?"

"She severely poisoned herself. Whoever found her did it just in time for her to have an actual chance of survival. We had to pump her stomach and give her a lot of fluid to get the toxines out of her system. We're doing a dialysis at the moment to get her blood free as well. It was a close call, she barely made it." Dr. Wilson said.

"Thank you Doctor. When can I speak to her?"

"You may get the chance in a couple of hours but she isn't awake at the moment and I suggest you keep it low-key once she is awake. She must avoid all forms of stress or physical effort in the next few days."

"Who can I talk to concerning the arrangement of a security detail for Detective Ellis?" L.T. asked and the doctor raised one of her eyebrows. If she wanted to ask why a police officer needed a security detail on her, she did a good job holding herself back but L.T. could tell that she was curious. Still, she didn't ask.

"I'll check for you and will come back to you as soon as I find out"

"Appreciate it"

Until he knew more, L.T. guessed that Karpowski and himself were stuck on that job for a little more time than they thought.

* * *

"I just heard back from L.T." said Captain Gates as she re-entered the conference room from her office, where she had taken the call. "Detective Ellis is alive. She is still in a very critical condition and needs to be supervised on ICU still, but her condition has improved."

"At least that's something" Esposito said and then he ventured off to call Lanie. He had given her a run down on the recent interviews regularly as the M.E. was completely worried about her best friend, but Esposito was glad he could speak about the more positive things now.

"I suggest after the recent events you should all take some time off. Detective Beckett isn't expected back to work for at least a week so I suggest you do the same? I'll deal with the commissioner" Gates smiled and received appreciative comments for her decision.

Cheers could be heard in the adjacent room and Castle, Ryan, Shaw and Captain Gates exited the conference room to see what the noise was all about. There were three people entering the room, two of them dressed in all-black combat outfits, the third was a battered-looking but very alive Detective Beckett. Castle could feel all tension falling off of him and a big lump formed in his throat. There had only been very few moments in his life in which he had been truly grateful for seeing another human being and this was one of them. After all their near-death experiences ('Really, what's our deal with getting locked into rooms' Castle thought) and revelations or non-relevations that went along with them, they were never getting used to this. Ever.

Of all the times in which they had secretly thought about being with one another, of all the times in which one of them was basically ready to commit but the universe had a say, too. Of all the times in which someone thought they would make the perfect couple, of all these times this was special.

She would be his wife one day. She was his girlfriend, his fiancée. And she had been in danger.

Myriads of emotions danced in Castle's eyes and they watered up, just like they had when she had told him that she loved him for the first time. She approached her team slowly, accompanied with cheers and applause. Her cheeks blushed, the attention still something that struck her. Every time. Her head was bandaged but the paramedic had cleaned her wounds carefully, she wore some of the black clothes the female FBI had been able to spare. She had a cut under her eye which was patched up as well and she walked extra carefully as if her legs were terribly bruised. Which they probably were. Other than that she seemed to be fine. Her eyes searched for his and their gazes interlocked, drawing each other in.

"Hey" she said hoarsely when she was close enough for him to hear her whisper.

"Hey" he said softly, touching her damaged cheek. "Oh Kate, what did he do to you?"

"Nothing that can't heal" she answered and after a glance to her superior who just nodded, Kate sank into Castle's arms amid the applause of the crowd of detectives around. Esposito, who had finished his quick update call with Lanie fist bumped Ryan and both grinned at the sight of their re-united friends and co-workers.

"May I introduce, Agents Cianelli and Walker!" Shaw said and quick congratulations and 'thank you's' were shared. Kate didn't care at all. She was snuggled up against Castle's chest, breathing in his scent mixed with his cologne and suddenly knew what true bliss must feel like.

"I think we should actually head out of here, if you don't mind" said Castle, looking at the Captain. Esposito and Ryan nodded.

"Burgers?" mumbled Kate and looked into Castle's cobalt blue eyes.

"If that's what you want, you're gonna get burgers..."

* * *

**_The van with the new inmate arrived at the prison. It was accompanied by three FBI cars and several police patrol cars to ensure that Jerry Tyson made his way into the maximum security prison without any unforeseen occurrence._**

**_Jerry was blindfolded and tied up. He could only hear the sounds of the moving car, the low key talks of the agents that accompanied him._**

**_Then the van stopped and the door was opened._**

**_"What do you got for us?" someone said and one of the FBI agents retorted "Extra special douchebag, special treatment. That guy's lucky this state doesn't have the death sentence."_**

**_"Gladly taking him" the other man, apparently a guard, said._**

**_"Gladly getting rid of him"_**

**_About twenty minutes later Jerry Tyson arrived at his cell and the blindfold was removed. As the doors closed behind him in isolation, he swore that this wasn't over. All he needed to do was finding a way to achieve that.  
_**

* * *

They looked just like four colleagues after an exhausting day at work and in some ways they were. They shared a booth at Remy's which was big enough to also fit Jenny, Lanie, Alexis and Martha. After a day like this it was good to be surrounded by family.

Kate appreciated each and everyone of them being there. They were comforting, soothing and dulled the pain that she still felt. Tyson had hit her pretty hard and she wasn't sure how Castle would take it if he saw the bruises later.

Ryan devoured his dish in no time and even overtook Esposito in skill and speed. Jenny looked impressed. Lanie chuckled at Esposito's disappointed face.

"I think it's time for a celebration" Jenny said out of nowhere and raised her glass of water which had everyone secretly guessing if she might ...

"I am more than happy to see our family complete today and I don't even wanna think about what could have happened..."

"Hear, hear" said Esposito and Ryan nudged his side with his elbow.

"We'll have lots of things to celebrate in the future" Jenny went on and looked at Kate, who blushed deeply and looked down. "... and as it is safe for Kev and myself to announce something as well, today, we might as well do it while we're together." She couldn't say more because tears welled up in her eyes and her throat was blocked with the words that desperately wanted to be said but just didn't get out. So Ryan, whose eyes glistened ominously, too, took over: "We're pregnant!"

Esposito just grinned as Ryan had already filled him in but the rest of the table 'ooo'd' and 'awww'd' and congratulated the pair.

"Here's to a serial killer behind bars!" said Castle.

"Here's to an engagement that's overdue" shouted Martha.

"Here's to Kate being alive and with us" chimed Alexis.

"Here's to Captain Gates giving us some days off" laughed Esposito.

"Here's to me staying in the city" Kate said.

"Hell of a day" Castle said and kissed Kate's forehead.

"Hell of a day" she confirmed and they all let their glasses clink together.

"Here's to the future" Ryan said.

* * *

**A/N: With this we've almost come full circle, there is going to be one more chapter :-) Thanks for reading :-)**


	33. At Ease

**A/N: This is going to be the last chapter and then we've come full circle. I would have an epilogue ready if you wanted one. Let me know in the reviews if that was something you'd enjoy. Thanks again for all the views, follows and reviews. I am so glad I dared to write and post this. Thank you so much!**

* * *

**Chapter 33 - At Ease**

_"Here's to a serial killer behind bars!" said Castle._

_"Here's to an engagement that's overdue" shouted Martha._

_"Here's to Kate being alive and with us" chimed Alexis._

_"Here's to Captain Gates giving us some days off" laughed Esposito._

_"Here's to me staying in the city" Kate said._

_"Hell of a day" Castle said and kissed Kate's forehead._

_"Hell of a day" she confirmed and they all let their glasses clink together._

_"Here's to the future" Ryan said._

* * *

Alexis turned the key and they entered the loft, Kate almost fully leaning on Castle, too exhausted to stand on her own two feet without support anymore.

"The girl is dead on her feet" commented Martha as she became aware of Kate's condition.

"I'm not" mumbled Kate and everyone laughed.

"You are, Kate" Castle said softly and kissed Kate's temple "let's get you to bed, shall we?"

Alexis shot him a look that said 'you're really cute but it's equally weird because you're my dad' and Castle smiled back at her. What a wonderful daughter he had, even after the terrifying events of the last couple of days she remained the rock, she remained calm and she reminded him on a daily basis how important his family was to him and she would always be his center of attention. Even if he loved Kate. His love for his daughter was of a different nature, it was more raw, pure, divine. You simply couldn't compare it to anything else.

After Martha and Alexis said their goodnight wishes and hurried upstairs, Castle carefully navigated his fiancée through the study into the bedroom and she slowly went into the bathroom to change, grabbing every surface she could reach in order to not fall. Castle shot her a bewildered but amused look as she went and as soon as he heard the water of the sink running and the rhythmic noises of her brushing her teeth, he sighed as the events of the day streamed back into his very conscious mind.

Once again it had been very close. She had had another brush with death, this time facing it alone. He wouldn't pressure her into telling him anything about the time that she had spend in Tyson's company. He would signal her that he was interested to learn what happened but would leave the choice up to her. He would learn from his mistakes, she deserved it. And he did, too.

He couldn't imagine his life without her anymore and he didn't want to. 'I don't have to' he thought, remembering the fact that she actually wore his ring. Castle had been surprised to learn that Tyson didn't keep it as a souvenir as he had kept small things from the victims before Kate.

It had turned out that he had kept an engagement ring from one of the victims, a notepad from the other and a necklace from the third. All of these items had been found in the cellar he imprisoned Kate in.

Tori still hadn't recovered enough to be interrogated by Gates and Shaw, who both had decided that her persona should be dealt with by the superior officers - after all, Gates felt somewhat responsible for one of her co-workers and Shaw wanted more information about Jerry Tyson which the FBI could add to his profile.

He heard Kate using the mouth wash and he chuckled at the funny noises she made. Sometimes he would observe her doing her evening routine, taking off her make-up, brushing her hair, rubbing body lotion on her arms and legs, brushing her teeth and it would feel so normal, so ... wonderful that it made him run out of words. Where other people just saw normal actions, things that happened on a regular basis, Castle was still astounded that Kate shared her life with him. Now more than ever because she said yes to his proposal. He couldn't contain the smile that spread on his face as he sat down on the bed, smiling at the memories that flooded into his mind:

Kate saying that she loved him.

A small whisper of 'always' in the middle of the night when their bodies were connected in the most intimate way, their hands entwined and their bodies sweaty and warm.

Her small snore. Yeah, that, too.

Gates telling her to kiss him.

Her hair moved by the wind at his Hampton's beach home, the maroon colored strands glistening in the sun.

Alexis' acceptance of their relationship, her eager and genuinely happy reaction when they revealed their engagement.

Her whispering 'You have no idea' into his ear after their first case and him feeling intrigued and excited.

Their first kiss.

Their first kiss against a door.

Her smell.

Her smell when ...

"Castle?" Kate said and tore him from his happy thoughts "are you dreaming?"

He sobered up, his eyes still alight with the memories and he looked at her attire, his favorite sleeping shirt. The faded pink one which left one shoulder bare and gave him a heat attack. Not too revealing, subtle but erotic and he felt warmth in his stomach, his affection threatening to overcome him at any second.

"Just about you" he said softly, holding his arms wide open to invite her into an embrace and without knowing that she desperately needed another hug, she flew into his arms.

"Just about me, huh?" she mumbled against his broad chest and he chuckled.

"What, do you actually think it could be about anyone else if I stand here with a dreamy expression on my face and my mind occupied?"

"What do I know..." she said and he could feel the grin that formed on her face through the fabric of his shirt.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, you're being ridiculous!" he mocked her and her grin intensified.

"Oh, it's my full name again?"

"Speaking about names..." Castle said and created some distance between them so that he could look her into the eyes "... we haven't discussed that yet. Do you wanna keep yours?"

He saw the look on her face and backed off "Maybe we should discuss that later after this day you just had."

"No, Castle, it's fine..."

"I need to be sure that it is, Kate, you've had more than a rough day and I don't wanna add any pressure on you to think that you need to answer it right away."

"No, Castle, really, it's fine. I think 'Katherine Castle' actually has a nice ring to it."

"Really?" he beamed.

"Yeah" she smiled and snuggled closer to him "but I'd like to keep my name for work."

"I could live with that" he grinned and kissed the top of her head "are you cleaned up from the day?"

"I think I'd need to wash my hair, but I can't reach up high enough" she said and made a face. Some of the bruises were getting pretty bad and she had gotten to a point where she could admit that she was in pain. If not to him, to whom else?

"Then let me help you" he said softly. Her eyes flew open with surprise but she allowed him to help. They slowly went into the bathroom, him never leaving her side, always keeping contact. He guided her with his arm around her waist and she felt like the events of the past day were just a bad dream, something that couldn't happen if he was close to her. What cowardice it had been to leave in the middle of the night on a whim. She had been so stupid. Once again it was her who needed to apologize and make up for her mistake.

"Castle..."

"Yes?" he said, slowly letting her sit on the stool he had retrieved from under the bathroom counter. So she sat there on the dark, wooden chair and he examined her patch right under one of her hazel eyes that now looked at him.

"The patch should be fine until tomorrow, I'll replace it then. Don't worry, I have a lot of experience with cuts and bruised knees myself. And it's not Alexis I am talking about" he grinned, trying to cheer her up further as he sensed the tension that still held her body in a tight grip.

"I bet, you're the one person I know who tied himself to a chair in order to prove a point!"

"Excuse me? I wanted it to be realistic!"

"I know" she said softly and touched his cheek while he still bent down to her. He closed his eyes for a moment, completely content.

"Now let's get your hair washed, shall we?"

* * *

A lot of thoughts ran wild in Jenny's mind as she sat in bed that night. Her stomach growled and so Kevin had to get out to get her one of her new favorite things to eat, spring rolls. He had made a joke about trying to accumulate a secret stash of them so he didn't have to get to the little restaurant across the street in the middle of the night but Jenny had explained that only the fresh food was the one the baby craved. So he had given in. As he always did. And Jenny knew she could count on him to do that for the rest of the pregnancy and the rest of their lives together.

She heard the door and knew that her husband had returned. Mere moments later the scent of the spring rolls filled the air as Kevin came into the bedroom, two plates in his hand and two forks.

"Who said that you could have any?" she mocked him and laughed.

"I ordered double" he responded "and they've gotten to know me now so they've given you a little more to your portion, too. They're supportive of pregnant women."

"That's good" she answered and greedily stretched her hands out to receive her plate.

"But don't make a mess in bed" he told her and she stuck her tongue out.

"We made the mess when we created Junior here" she said and caressed her still flat stomach.

"That's not a mess, that's beautiful" he said and got comfortable on his side of the bed.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes until Jenny broke the silence with a question: "So did you see it coming, the thing with Castle and Beckett?"

"To be honest?" he asked and she raised her eyebrows "I had a vague idea"

"Really?"

"Well, I actually thought she might be pregnant, too. She had been acting strangely over the past weeks and I wasn't sure how to deal with it sometimes. After that Vaughn case..."

"Oh yeah" Jenny said in recognition of the story Kevin had told her.

"But I love that they've gotten their act together" he smiled proudly. "They have both become a part of my family and I am happy for them."

"Me, too" she said and handed him her plate.

"Are you done?"

"More than" she responded and her stomach made small, content noises.

"That's good" he said, placed the plates on his nightstand and switched off the lights. His wife did the same and as the darkness welcomed them, they drifted into a peaceful sleep. Just before she actually drifted off to sleep, Jenny mumbled: "Their baby would be really cute though."

"Probably"

* * *

Her hair smelled like cherries and the scent mixed with her vanilla scented lotion he carefully rubbed on her back and arms. She feels better, more relaxed. Castle had been so gentle with her, careful to not get water or shampoo in her eyes while he massaged her scalp, rinsed and shampooed again. His experience with his daughter came in handy with that one, he had admitted mid-shampoo.

She could tell.

And she was proud. Proud that he shared some of him with her. Again.

She felt like it was her turn.

So she told him that she did have a little time to think about the job offer that had been presented to her. Had explained her motivations considering it once again. Had tried to make him understand what had her made say no.

"You know Castle?" she hummed as he caressed her back with small touches of both his hands and he stopped for a moment, awaiting her question or statement.

"What, Kate?"

"I do love you and I am sorry I didn't understand how you possibly could have felt about me taking a job that might place me basically anywhere. That was selfish. And I really just now understand how unsteady my life would have become if I said yes to it. I think a younger Kate Beckett might have truly enjoyed this job and the challenges that come with it. I am sure she would have kicked ass!"

"Older Beckett kicks ass, too" he grinned and she let out a small laugh.

"True, she still does. But older Kate Beckett also understands the concept of family. How important her co-workers are to her, how they've become her family. How she just loves her job and how each homicide is important. Each of my cases deserves closure, each person that stays behind. Not just the high profile cases I would get to work on. Not to mention this one annoying shadow that I've had, you know? This author I like? What was his name again?"

"He's your fiancée and he is extraordinarily proud of who you've become." he said and his heart swelled with his love for this person.

"Yeah, and he as made a difference in my life. For which I am very grateful."

"Likeweise" he responded and shoved her shirt down. "You're done. And now you need to get some rest. It's been a weird week."

"Oh yeah" she said and turned on her back to face the ceiling. He switched the lamp on his nightstand off and the bedroom was dark apart from the city lights that shone through the window.

"So, Ms Beckett, let's get some sleep" he mumbled and robbed closer to her so that he could smell the mixture of cherries, vanilla and her pure scent close to him

"As I think of it, Mrs Castle doesn't sound half bad"

"I'm glad" he said and his arm then covered her soft, flat stomach.

"Are you still open for the option?" she asked and Castle didn't know what she was talking about at first. She bit her lip and as he didn't respond she went on "Remember, I asked you if you actually wanted more kids and you said..."

"... that I liked to have the option. I remember."

"So...?"

"So what?" he hedged, wanting her to talk about things more.

"So, would you ... try? With me?"

* * *

The office lamp lightened the office are where a tired looking Captain Victoria Gates put aside her reading glasses and decided to call it a night. She organized the piles of paper neatly on her desk and then switched the lamp off to signal her departure.

Just a few officers were still working, the nightshift usually being the more quiet part of the precinct work.

She greeted some officers on her way out and made her way towards her car.

On some days she wished that she had more control over things. Tori Ellis still refused to cooperate and was now under 24/7 surveillance at her hospital, L.T. and Karpowski were supported by a few other hand-picked officers Gates chose herself.

The lack of closure bothered her. She needed to learn about the motivations for Ellis' helping a serial killer. She needed to know how she had dared to let him into her precinct and even frame one of her workers. If she was honest to herself, she had to admit how helpful the writer was. 'What a slip-up actually tell him' she thought and hoped that his ego didn't need the additional push in the end.

She got into her car and started the engine.

Time to go home.

* * *

_**Detective Tori Ellis lay there in her hospital room, wide awake. She had been instructed that Jerry Tyson had been caught and had been transferred to a high class and highly secured prison. Her world had shattered. Even more that it already did when she had taken the pills. Her emergency pills, that was what he had been calling them.**_

_**For an easy way out.**_

_**This sure didn't feel like the easy way and she tossed and turned, unable to shake the feeling off that the man that she loved secretly wanted to abandon and sacrifice her. It hurt like hell. She still couldn't handle it.**_**_  
_**

_**Especially, since she had looked into Castle's eyes and had seen the love there. How much he felt for savvy Detective Beckett, what he wouldn't give to have the reunite. Then it hit her. Jerry wouldn't do the same for her. He would simply leave and go on with his live. Which was exactly what he had done.**_

_**And she couldn't deal with it. **_

_**All she wanted was sleep.  
**_

* * *

"You actually wanna try?" he asked her, breathless after their intense kiss.

"I would love to" she said and smiled some more.

"You think we're there, yet?" he asked, suddenly doubtful.

"We might not be, Castle, but I think we're getting there. Sometimes baby steps are okay, but we've addressed some of the big stuff recently. If we continue to do that, we can handle a second Richard Castle in his home."

"Speaking of baby steps, it takes a while until they know how to walk."

"I know, Castle, I know."

"But Kate, is that really what you want? I mean, we've time .."

She snorted in response and he looked at her, eyes wide open in shock.

"I am not _THAT_ old, young lady" he said, his expression slightly hurt.

"No, but are you willing to do a do-over?"

"With you? Always."

* * *

**A/N: And with this we have become full circle and my "Unofficial 2013 Hiatus Fic-A-Thon entry" is complete.**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews I've gotten over the past weeks in which this story is online. I would never have thought that anyone would consider my writing any good so this is a nice way of learning that some of you actually think it is quite good. Remember, this is my first ever published fiction and I am really glad that it wasn't a total failure.**

**I have highest hopes for season 6 with Terri Edda Miller back full-time and Dara and Chad seem very "teaseteasetease, giggle, snort-ish", too, so I am looking forward to it! I am still hoping for a nice white wedding and Marlowe, I beg you, don't make it too complicated. I don't wanna turn my back on Castle ;-)**

**I have seen the 6x01 BTS pictures and I try not to freak out too much. There's so much time until September :-) And I am partially excited and partially "WTFisgoingon" about this show at the moment, well done Marlowe -.- ;) **

**Thanks to flashpoint33 for her excellent story "Decisions and Dominoes" which I enjoyed .. A LOT!**

**All other authors of the #CastleFicAThon - I'll read your stories after my exams. I didn't want to read any of yours, yet, since I didn't wanna be influenced by anything. But I am very much looking forward to reading all of them.**

**Thanks WriterLeigh - for your constant support and advice ("Can I say 'that'n that?'?") - I wouldn't have come this far if it hadn't been for you.**

**Thanks to 0sunny0 for her comments when she got parts of my chapters in advance. Means a lot.**

**See you ... later? If you like?**

**P.S. There is an epilogue. Maybe ;)**


	34. Epilogue

**A/N: I can't express enough gratitude for the love you've given me over the past two months of posting this. I am thankful for each review, tweet etc. I've gotten and there were even a few people commenting that I should continue writing - bless, that's so kind!**

**I'm actually considering to do some speculation fics before season six starts, we shall see how that works. I have the whole month of August for my pure entertainment, so I'll watch Firefly, Mistresses and Once and write :-)**

**Here is your epilogue - fluff ... with a twist. You'll see why ... ;)**

* * *

**Epilogue - And may fortune guide your journey...  
**

_"But Kate, is that really what you want? I mean, we've time .."_

_She snorted in response and he looked at her, eyes wide open in shock._

_"I am not THAT old, young lady" he said, his expression slightly hurt._

_"No, but are you willing to do a do-over?"_

_"With you? Always."  
_

* * *

Summer had rolled over the city like purgatory. The glistening heat combined with the inevitable smog of the usually very busy New York City streets had made Castle re-think his summer plans. Instead of spending it entirely in the city, he and his fiancée (it still felt surreal to actually call her that way) had decided on some vacation time which Gates had gladly given Kate.

Castle sat in his back yard on one of the wooden sun beds with the striped mats and reflected on the events of the past three months. His life had never been fairly easy to begin with, in fact one could actually call it a roller coaster ride. He just had the feeling that it intensified towards a significant peek in the most unfitting and inappropriate moments only to go downhill again.

Kate and him had done a lot of talking in the meantime and he was glad that both of them did such a good job reflecting on past mistakes and committing to their future together.

* * *

_"And may fortune guide your journey!"_

_"CASTLE!"_

_"What?"_

_"You cannot be serious? This cannot possibly ever go in our vows. Just ... no!"_

_"But Kate, this is taken from your favorite TV show, Nebula 9! I was gonna come up with something super creative myself but why not steal it from Captain Max?"_

_"Just no, Castle. It's personal, but not personal enough. Besides, we haven't even agreed on a date yet, why are we discussing vows?"_

_"I thought a head-start would be good? You could always change your mind..."_

_"In Nevergonnahappenland, maybe. Besides, if you are actually planning on using these exact words in your vows, then I might turn around an leave you at the altar!"_

_"You would not!"_

_"Well, don't make me!"_

_"Fine" he snorted and turned around so that she couldn't see the big smile that he wore._

* * *

Things had eventually become interesting as Alexis returned from her trip to Costa Rica, a fellow student at her heals. A free spirit that wanted to save the world and listened to the short but resonant name of 'Pi'.

As his parents weren't able to provide financial aid he needed for his studies anymore, Alexis had gone for it and had offered him a place to stay at the loft. In the guest room, naturally, as Castle had only tolerated that.

There was something about this Pi character he liked, though. Not his cooking skills, which were flawless if you were a fructarian and solely ate fruits. But not if you weren't. Then it felt like torture.

How many times had he come home to the loft to find something on the table that he couldn't even identify properly. He sighed at the memory.

He looked at the beautiful scenery in front of him, how the air at the sea always gave him heaps of inspiration of new stories he could write. The small breeze moved some strands of his hair and the slightly salty air did wonders to his city bound headaches he had been getting a lot recently. The lack of sleep and the intense writing sessions had left their marks on him. Now that the first draft of his new book was done and his resurrection of Derek Storm had been taken exceptionally well, he was more busy than ever before.

His personal life kept him busy as well. The addition of Pi to his life had been one thing, Kate moving into the loft had been the other.

* * *

_The doorbell rang and he was genuinely confused since he didn't expect anyone to show up at ... - he glanced at his watch - 9.30pm on a Thursday night. Beckett had wanted to stay at her apartment to spend some quality time with Lanie and besides, she did have a key, didn't she?_

_He slowly got up and went towards the hall when the doorbell rang again. He cursed and shouted "I am coming, don't make such a fuss."_

_When he got to the door and opened it, no one was there and he wanted to close the door with a loud bang when he realized that there was a small box standing on his doormat. He had almost missed it. The box was open and a large post it note was attached to one of the four lids the box had. It read 'Carry me inside and then look and my content."_

_He raised an eyebrow in confusion but nevertheless did as the box (the box, seriously?) told him and carried it inside._

_He placed it on the dining table and carefully folded the lids aside until the content of the - rather heavy - box lay bare before him. He gasped._

_Inside of the box were all the books he had ever written, all of his classics, his not so good books and the most recent additions. All of them looked heavily used, loved, needed even and he took out "Flowers for your Grave" and opened it. A sticker on the inside said "From the library of Kate Beckett" and his heart beat increased by ... a lot. These were her books, the ones that must have kept her good company according to the state of them._

_Inside of the box he found a card and he opened it. It read:_

_"Thankfully these didn't get burned when my old apartment blew up. I thought they might be a good thing to start with. You still want me to move in?"_

_His eyes watered up and he lost focus for a bit. 'Why does she still think she needs to ask?' he thought and when his eyes were able to focus again, he saw that the outside of the box said "Books, Study?" and he genuinely thought he never felt happier in his entire life.  
_

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" a female voice asked and he would have recognized in a million. His fiancée, his muse, his everything.

"Everything" he simply said and looked at Kate.

"Well, that's a lot" she smiled and sat down on the second sun bed and placed two cups on the table between them.

"Is that coffee?" he asked hopeful.

"Nope, I went for some tea instead."

"Alright" he said "I hope it's cooled down already, I don't know if I can add more hotness to the sun .. and to you!"

Kate laughed at the comment which still fit the "Most Eligible Bachelor"-list-Rick. And to be quite honest, she still wasn't used to any form of compliment, neither from him, nor from anyone else.

"How far have you gotten with the book draft Gina asked about? she asked, her voice still filled with a little acid. The didn't like Gina and Castle couldn't blame her. His loneliness had driven him into his second failed marriage with a woman he didn't really love and even if he didn't want her to see it that way, Kate was number three, one of the three women he ever proposed to. She compared herself to them. And it never made anything better if any of the other two showed up.

* * *

_"Richaaaaard!" a female voice bellowed and it echoed through the whole loft. That could only mean another redhead had made her way into his loft again and he sighed in frustration at the thought that it probably was true. The voice sure sounded like his ex-wife #1, Meredith. The question was, why would she show up at his loft at 9am on a Sunday morning._

_He already sat in his study to start his draft for "A heated Storm" and Kate was still asleep in the adjacent bedroom. Well, probably not any more now. He got up and tightened his robe around him a little faster than he normally did. His tousled hair gave away that he hadn't been up for a long period of time as did his still puffy eyes and his dreamy expression. Who could blame him for it? His beautiful fiancée just agreed to move in with him and had send an advanced box of books._

_Two hours later there were around thirty boxes that piled up in various corners of the loft, brought into the loft by Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, L.T., Karposwki and even the grumpy Pearlmutter carried a few. Jenny had also been there as moral support, her stomach not flat anymore, a small bump forming there._

_"Richard?" the voice shouted again and he cursed under his breath and went out of his study. His biggest fears came true as he saw his ex-wife standing in the entrance area of the loft. Martha shot him an apologetic look. Apparently, she had opened the door without thinking twice and there she was, Meredith, another redheaded whirlwind._

_"Rick?" another voice called him and he spun around to find his fiancée standing in the door to the study. She looked genuinely confused and he couldn't blame her. He didn't know himself what exactly was going on._

_"Hey" he said, walking towards her, wrapping her into his strong arms, both a meaningful gesture and a provocation. Kate sensed it, too, and she stiffened a little bit in his embrace. "Just remain calm, will you? I'll take care of this" he mumbled and she snorted. "Yeah, like last time?" she asked and softly punched into his ribs. "Ouch, I deserved that" he said and turned around to face Meredith again. His fingers entwined with Kate's and they both stepped closer toward the flawless looking Meredith who stood there, an expensive looking handbag in her hand and her Ray Bean sunglasses shoved onto her head. She wore tight fitted jeans that complimented her body and a __flowy white dress top. Her brown sandals were decorated with big, shiny, decorative stones._

_"Richard!" Meredith said and for a split second Kate thought she wanted to throw herself at him again but she held herself back when she registered the determination on Rick's face. He wouldn't let her stay this time. Meredith couldn't know that the guest room was already occupied by Pi. _

_"Meredith" he answered, obviously not very happy about her presence and Martha reflected his emotion but showed it more graphically. Her facial expression didn't leave any doubt how unhappy she was with the whole situation. She shot Kate an apologetic look which she responded with a 'It's not your fault that he married that one' look which had Martha almost chuckling. She could barely contain herself and held back a laugh to not provoke anything in the already heated situation._

_"What are you doing here, Meredith?" Castle asked._

_"Oh I thought I'd drop by and visit" she responded "I wanted to see for myself if it was true."_

_"If what was true?" Castle asked but Meredith had already venture forward and grabbed Kate's left hand to find her engagement ring there, resting on her ring finger._

_"If THAT's true" Meredith retorted "and I am really glad I didn't have to find out from any nosy reporter that rubbed it into my face to see what I had to say about it. Now I am at least prepared for when that actually happens."_

_She looked around and became aware of the boxes that were standing in some places, two in the entrance hall, some in the dining area and some apparently in the kitchen as well._

_"And she is moving in as well... " Meredith snorted and looked around at the mess they had made with the unpacking of some of the boxes._

_"So what if I am" Kate said, suddenly dropping Castle's hand and leaping forward towards Meredith, her eyes sparkling with fury and annoyance "... if I am, that clearly means that this is my home as well. For my understanding this also gives me the right to determine who comes into my home and who does not. And right now I'd say, I don't want you here. That should suffice, shouldn't it?"__  
_

_Meredith looked at Castle's surprised but content face and realized that in fact she wasn't welcome._

_"Fine" she said and turned around "but do tell Alexis that she can find me at the Ritz Carlton Central Park."_

_"Will do" Richard said and Martha gladly waved Meredith goodbye._

_As the door closed behind them, Castle let out a sigh of relief but Kate wasn't done._

_"And now..." she started and turned around to him "care to explain to me why she can still appear unannounced?"  
_

* * *

"I'm good, 'A heated Storm' is practically done. Gina and Paula are currently reading it. I imagine them looking like hyena in the process but yeah, you know them. They challenge me.

"Is that a part of why you married Gina back then?" Kate asked cautiously and Rick looked directly into her eyes. Honesty. That's what this was all about.

"Maybe" he answered "I think it was a combination of challenge and loneliness. When Meredith left me and I had Alexis and mother to take care of, I thought it was nice to have a companion that shared another part of my life. Needless to say, it didn't work. We fought so hard over personal and professional stuff, it was disgusting at one place. I had actually established the rule to not ever date a co-worker of some sort again."

"Oh really?" she asked, clearly amused "Well, that didn't work. You're engaged to one."

"True" he said, taking a sip from his tea.

"When will you finally admit that you fell for me the day that we met?" he asked after he had swallowed and she laughed.

"What, Castle, are we back at this ridiculous topic again?"

"Ridiculous" he snorted.

"Yeah, ridiculous.." she retorted, suddenly thinking of something else that she had dreaded to ask but felt that it was the time to actually do it.

"Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember back then when you asked me to come to the Hamptons with you and you went with Gina instead?"

"Yeah?" Castle said, oblivious of the delicate topic she was about to touch there.

"I wanted to go. I broke things up with Demming and was ready to go. I was planning on telling you when you showed up with Gina and then the two of you were off..."

He looked at her in utter shock. He never even guessed that this could have been the thing she had been up to when she spoke to him in the hall at the precinct.

"I never knew that" he said, still shocked at the possibility that they could have solved things between them way earlier.

"I never told you." she answered and drank some tea herself.

"You should have" he said.

"What good would that have done? I wouldn't have been as ready as I am now. I wouldn't want it any other way. The way it is, it's fine. Don't you think?"

"I'd say, more than fine, to be honest" he responded and she smiled.

"I agree"

"Do you wanna go into the pool later?" she asked him and he nodded.

"I would have loved to have you earlier, Kate."

"Have me?" she raised her eyebrow and her tone became teasing.

"Have you" he said and the atmosphere was suddenly loaded with physical attraction between the two which both realized at once. The air buzzed with anticipation and Kate longed to touch him, run her fingers through his hair and she could tell he did feel the same.

"Then have me" she said, got up and gestured him to follow her into the house. She needn't say that twice. He hurried to get up.

* * *

_A couple of days after Meredith had left the city, Kate and Castle lay in bed together, both reading their respective novels / magazines. Until Kate put her book down and turned towards her fiancée._

_"How far have you come with the dedication?" Kate asked, trying to sound not too curious but of course, he realized that she was._

_"I am not sure, yet. I don't think that I can top the dedication of 'Frozen Heat', right?"_

_"'To all the remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating people who inspire us to do great things', yeah, that's pretty straightforward" Kate said._

_"Well, you'd know that you were meant, wouldn't you? No one else would. But now that you've agreed to marry me, I really wanna make it even more personal if you don't mind. I haven't come up with the perfect dedication, so I don't screw this up. It means too much to me."_

_"Are we still talking 'A heated Storm?" she asked but knew the answer._

_"Nope"_

_"There are just a few ways how you could possibly screw this up. You could cheat on me, or stick your face into someone else's boobs again. That was not okay" she scolded him, internally chuckling at his expression.  
_

_"Fair enough, but it's no rich entrepreneur for you again, either" he retorted, making her cringe but she knew that she deserved it.  
_

_"Okay, that seems fair" she said._

_"Sorry" he said._

_"Nothing to say sorry for, Castle. It's me who screwed up. But your slip up with an all too eager Christina Coterra wasn't cool as well."_

_"I know" he said, remembering the all to fast-forward reporter._

_"Let's just agree on putting this behind us" she suggested and he was more than willing to say 'yes' to her idea.  
_

* * *

A few days later Kate stood in the master bedroom of the Hamptons house which she shared with Castle and sighed. She didn't want to pack up her things and go back to the city but it looked like she needed to.

"Sad to leave?" she heard him say and turned around to find him standing in the door, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yeah" she said.

"You know, I was thinking..."

"When are you not thinking?" she retorted.

"Ha, funny, Ms Beckett, very funny" he came closer and wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"I was thinking that this place could be a good location for our wedding."

"Oh, well, Jerry Tyson thought the same" she answered, her voice coated with sarcasm.

"Ugh, you're right" he cringed "so maybe not?"

"Maybe not"

"You still wanna do it?"

"I still wanna do it!"

"Good, I'm glad" he answered and offered help with the packing. A small box caught his eye and naturally, he needed to know what was in there. He grabbed the box and held it up.

'He touches things' Kate thought and smiled. Just as I planned he would.

"What is that, Kate? Did you go to this exquisite lingerie shop that I showed you? I knew you'd buy something there but why don't I get to see it?" he whined and tried to open the yellow ribbon around the box.

"Go ahead, open it" she said and sat down on the bed, observing him carefully. She saw him nestling with the ribbon until he opened the bow and removed it from the box. He shot her an expectant look and she just nodded, signaling him to open the small black box.

He took a good look at the contents of the box and swallowed. Hard.

When he looked back to her, the pride, love and joy she could see on his face took her breath away.

"Are you sure?" he asked and balanced the little pacifier on his pinkie.

"Sure as I can be. Did make an appointment for next week to be entirely sure but so far, yeah, looks like it, Dad..."

Dad.

_Really_?

There was a lump in his throat all of the sudden and it took him a few swallows to get it down.

"You take my breath away, Katherine Houghton Beckett" he stated matter of factly and she beamed.

"It's my full name once again? How about 'Katherine Houghton Castle'?"

"Mhhh, sounds appealing" he said and rounded the bed to pull her into his arms.

"You wanna change it before or after?" she said, referring to little Castle.

"Before or after we have it, him, her, ... it?" he stammered."

"Yeah, that" she clarified and snuggled closer.

"What about today?"

"_TODAY_?"

* * *

_**Tori Ellis was transported to state prison two months after she went into a New York City hospital after her suicide **_**_attempt. It had been a difficult journey to clear her for prison as she still refused to cooperate with anyone. Captain Gates and the experienced Agent Shaw from the FBI didn't have a shot with her, neither did her psychiatrist._**_  
_

**_She refused to talk to anyone about her relationship with Tyson. After all, it was sacred to her. No one was allowed to violate it. Even if it didn't do her any good. And she was sentenced to prison anyways, the evidence had piled up against her. Her co-workers incriminated her, her phone showed that she had contact to a serial killer._**

**_Others did the math. It equaled that she should be sent to prison which she was at this very moment._**

**_She didn't care._**

**_She leaned against the window of the police cruiser that transported her into prison and let out a sigh of acceptance. She would just accept her sentence and go through with it._**

**_A gigantic blow caught the car and the power of it overturned the vehicle a couple of times until it came to a standstill at the side of the road. The driver and the other two officers were unconscious and severely injured, dislocated bones and several cuts marked the severity of their injuries. Tori Ellis was on the edge of unconsciousness, she had a deep cut on her cheek, the back of her head was covered in blood and she felt a sudden pain in her left leg. Still, she was alive. _**

**_Confused, she tried to locate the source of the blow but couldn't see far enough as her vision was clouded._**

**_Then she heard a male voice: "Sorry for the injuries, Detective. Let's get you out of here."  
_**

* * *

**A/N: That screams "sequel", right? ;-)**


End file.
